THE LIBRARY
OF
THE UNIVERSITY
OF CALIFORNIA
LOS ANGELES
mm
?',,
Digitized by the Internet Archive
in 2007 with funding from
Microsoft Corporation
http://www.archive.org/details/forerunnersofdanOObutliala
THE FORERUNNERS
OF DANTE
A SELECTION FROM ITALIAN POETRY
BEFORE 1300
EDITED BY
A. J. BUTLER
PROFESSOR OF ITALIAN LITERATURE IN
UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON
OXFORD
AT THE CLARENDON PRESS
1910
HENRY FROWDE, M.A.
PUBLISHER TO THE UNIVERSITY OF OXFORD
LONDON, EDINBURGH, NEW YORK
TORONTO AND MELBOURNE
College
library
TO
RHODA BUTLER
WITHOUT WHOSE HELP THIS BOOK WOULD NOT HAVE
BEEN WRITTEN IT IS DEDICATED BY HER FATHER
1221601
CONTENTS
Preface .
PlERO DELLE VlNGNE
NOTARO GlACOMO .
Jacopo Mostacci .
King John of Brienne
RlNALDO D'AQUINO .
glacomino pugliese
compagnetto da prato
Jacopo d' Aquino .
Tomaso di Sasso di Messina
gludice guido delle colonne di messina
Mazzeo di Rico di Messina .
Prezivalle Doria (?)
folcalchieri di slena .
TlBERTO GALLIZIANI DI PlSA .
Galletto di Pisa .
Leonardo del Guallaco di Pisa
Betto Mettifucco di Pisa .
odo delle colonne di messina
Ruggierone di Palermo
Anonymous ....
'Ciullo d'Alcamo'
Messer Osmano
Fra Guittone d'Arezzo
Chiaro Davanzati
bonagiunta da lucca .
Pucciandone Martelli da Pisa
guido di guinizello da bologna
Onesto da Bologna
Guido Cavalcanti da Firenze
ClNO DA PlSTOIA
Notes
Index of First Lines .
PREFACE
Italy is unique among European countries in having
twice seen its literature culminate, at epochs, indeed, far
remote one from the other ; and each time in a poet
who by common consent holds rank among the four
or five greatest among men of European speech.
The older Italian, which we call Latin, and the later
Latin, which we call Italian, must not be regarded
as parent and child ; they are the same individual at
various stages of development, as Dante was well
aware. Throughout the treatise on language and
literature to which he gave the name of De Vulgari
Eloquentia, the word he uses to designate his own
mother- tongue is Latino. The three chief ' Romance '
languages, as we now style them, are for him French,
' Spanish ' (including Provencal), and ' Latin ' ; the
vernacular of Italy is vulgare latinum. His instinct was
quite right ; he would have understood Virgil, in all
probability, though he had never read another word
of ancient Latin, while Virgil would have understood
him, and recognized in his speech something very
closely resembling what he had heard every day in the
streets of Rome, or the country lanes round Mantua.
If we consider these two culminating epochs of
Italian literature, we shall be struck by two points of
similarity. First there is the extraordinary rapidity
of development in both cases. A hundred years
before Virgil was born, Latin poetry was represented
vi PREFACE
by a number of plays founded on the Greek, and a
versified chronicle in the rugged indigenous Saturnian
metre. A hundred years before Dante was born there
was, so far as we know, no Italian poetry at all, other
than the popular songs of which we can only infer the
existence from what we know of the universal habits
of mankind. The other point to be noticed is this :
In the earlier period, not only was the drama imported
straight from Greece, but the lyric and elegiac metres,
even the hexameter itself, which in Virgil's hands
became such an instrument as the world has never since
beheld for expressing and arousing all the nobler
emotions — arma> amor, rectitudo, as Dante classifies
them — all these and their themes were in the first
instance purely exotic, consciously introduced by men
of letters.
At the second great outburst of poetry in Italy a
similar process went on, though it took its rise some-
what differently. Instead of Italy consciously seeking
foreign models, the foreign model seems rather to have
been introduced by forces acting from without. For
a full century before any vernacular poetry appeared
in Italy the neighbouring country of Southern Gaul
had been a very nest of singing-birds. It is not
necessary here to discuss social and other causes which
brought about this development, or to criticize the
poetry of the troubadours. We need merely note
that in the course of the twelfth and thirteenth
centuries nearly every man of education in Guyenne
and Languedoc — which, rather than Provence proper,
was the troubadours' land — seems to have been a more
or less competent versifier, and that many of their
PREFACE vii
compositions which have been preserved possess a
richness of melody and a variety of rhythm such as
perhaps have never since been surpassed.
Throughout the twelfth century various forms of
heresy were rife in Provence and the adjacent regions,
but it was not till about the year 1200 that serious
efforts were made to suppress them. Innocent III,
one of the popes to whom the Roman See is most
indebted for the position it attained towards the end
of the Middle Ages, was elected in 1198. Before
long a crusade against the Albigenses was set on
foot, and for ten years Languedoc was given up to
slaughter and rapine. Those who preferred a quiet
life not unnaturally went elsewhere. Some trouba-
dours had already found a hospitable welcome at the
Courts of various North Italian princes, the Marquises
of Montferrat and Este, and the Counts of San
Bonifacio. They carried with them not only their
art, but their language also. It does not seem to
have occurred, in the first instance, to the courtly
poets of Italy that they had a language of their own,
capable of being employed for the expression of
passion or sentiment. Throughout Lombardy and
Venetia, and indeed further to the south, Provencal
was for a long time the only language which a self-
respecting poet could use. Malaspinas and Dorias
corresponded with each other and with the strangers
in those curious metrical debates known as tensos or
tenzoni, and as late as 1268 a Venetian nobleman was
writing a plank or elegy over the defeat and death of
Conradin. The troubadours, it may be noted, were
mostly Ghibellines, as might be expected of men who
viii PREFACE
had found favour with the Emperor and feudal princes
and had reason to see in the Papal policy the cause
of the troubles which afflicted their own land. One
name is conspicuous among the Provencalising Italians
— that of Sordello of Mantua. Whether he had, as
Dante rather seems to imply,1 begun by writing poetry
in his native tongue, or not, it is certain that no such
compositions of his have survived. Of his work in
Provencal we have, however, a respectable body ;
including a moral treatise, the Ensenhamen a*Onor,
in some 1300 lines, and the famous ' Lament for
Blacaz ', which, with its invective against the existing
sovereigns of Europe, is thought by some to have
suggested the similar tirade at the end of the nine-
teenth canto of the Paradise, and to have earned for
its writer the post which he holds in the Purgatory.
He seems to have been living at least down to 1268.
Curiously enough, the earliest essay in Italian verse
which has come down to us is the work of a Pro-
vencal. Towards the end of the twelfth century
Raimbaut de Vaqueiras of Orange went to Italy and
entered the service of Marquis Boniface of Montferrat.
He has left as a memorial of his residence in those
parts a somewhat amusing little piece in the form of
a dialogue between a Proven9al stranger and a lady
of Genoa. The Provencal opens with a string of
compliments, introducing most of the terms of the
troubadour's amatory vocabulary. She replies with
promptitude and decision, addressing him as ' Jujar',
that is, 'juglar' or 'jongleur' — not much better than
mountebank— and rejecting his advances in the most
1 V. E. I. xv.
PREFACE ix
uncompromising fashion. ' Provencal of ill fame, dirty,
stunted, bald ; my husband is a better-looking man
than you ; go thy way betimes, brother, a better
man'. As he becomes more urgent, she becomes
more contemptuous. She does not value his Pro-
vencal at a farthing; she understands him no better
than a German, a Sard, or a man of Barbary ; if her
husband comes to know, he will have an awkward
case to argue with him; the best thing he can do is
to get a horse and be off. As a bit of broad farce
the little piece is by no means a bad specimen of
mediaeval humour, employed for once on the side of
good morals. But its interest for our purpose lies in
the fact that, while the wooer speaks in his own lan-
guage, the lady replies in what is obviously meant to
be Italian. The language she uses is full of Provencal
words, and needs a Provencal dictionary to make it
out ; but there are many forms that can only be
Italian.
But, while the Italian language was thus slow in
coming to its own in the northern parts of its own
domain, a true vernacular literature was growing up
elsewhere. The process can hardly be better described
than in Dante's own words. In his search after a
vernacular fit to be the vehicle of high thoughts and
noble emotions he has passed in review most of the
local dialects of Italy, and rejected them all, some with
contumely, on account of the uncouth forms and
phrases which all at times admit. After a preliminary
sifting — it is his own term — in which he has eliminated
Rome, the March of Ancona, Spoleto, Milan, Bergamo,
and one or two more, he proceeds : —
x PREFACE
Next let us see what is to be thought of Sicilian ;
for the Sicilian vernacular seems to claim a reputation
above the others, for the reason that all the poetry
written by Italians is called Sicilian, and we find that
many of its native professors have sung in a dignified
style, as in the Odes Ancor eke Vaigua per lo foco lassi
and Amor che lungiamente m hat menato. But this
fame of the Trinacrian land, if we look at the mark
whereunto it tends, seems to have survived only to be a
reproach to the princes of Italy, who follow after pride
not in heroic but in plebeian fashion ; as surely as
those illustrious heroes, Frederick the emperor and
Manfred his well-born son, displaying the nobleness
and righteousness of their souls, so long as their fortune
endured, followed after things befitting men {humana),
disdaining the ways of brute beasts. Wherefore, being
noble in heart and endowed with graces, they strove to
cleave to the majesty of the princes that they were ;
and so whatever efforts were achieved by the most
eminent Latins in their time first appeared at the
Courts of those great wearers of the crown. And
because Sicily was the place of their royal throne it
came to pass that all the vernacular work of those who
went before us was called Sicilian ; a name which we
still retain, nor will our posterity be able to change it.
Then, as if the mere mention of the bygone glories
had stirred his soul past endurance, he bursts out with
that often-quoted invective against the degenerate
princes of his own day, — which, though it is not in the
Commedia, must have been in Villani's mind when he
charged the poet with garrire e sclamare : —
Rae/ia, racha ! What sounds come now from the
trumpet of the latest Frederick, or from the tinkling
bell of the second Charles, or from the horns of John
and Azzo, those puissant marquises, or the fifes of the
PREFACE xi
other grandees ? What but, ' Come hangmen, come
swindlers, come ye that follow after avarice! '
The fire soon dies down, and he continues : ' But it
is better to get back to our subject than to talk to no
purpose.' He then proceeds to consider whether,
after all, the ordinary speech of Sicily may not furnish
what he wants. A line from a vernacular poem (to
which reference will have to be made again) settles
that question in the negative. We may leave him to
put Tuscan, Romagnole, and other dialects through
his sieve, and, in his own words, ' foot it back to our
subject.'
It was, then, in the brilliant Court of Frederick II,
' Wonder of the world and amazing revolutionist,' that
Italian poetry really sprang into life. It is not neces-
sary here to go into the details of Frederick's career,
though for students of Dante they are of profound
importance. No one who has read it will forget the one
tremendous line in which Farinata, rising up out of his
fiery sepulchre, acquaints Dante with the Emperor's
doom ; or the Lombard nobleman's attribution of the
disorders in his own country, with the consequent
decay of courtesy and goodness, to the opposition
which the Church had offered to him ; or half a dozen
other passages, from which we may learn how deeply
Dante's imagination had been impressed by the
splendid figure in whom the mediaeval series of Em-
perors, one might almost say the Middle Age itself,
culminated and practically ended.
Frederick's reign as Emperor — he was born King of
Sicily — may be dated either from his election in 121 2
xii PREFACE
or from his final coronation at Rome by Honorius III
in 1 220. It lasted till 1250 ; and during the whole of
it, save for occasional absences in Germany or in the
East, the Empire may be said to have been governed
from Italy. The Emperor held Courts, Councils,
Diets, in one city or another, from Palermo to Friuli.
Learned men of all kinds, and from all nations, were
welcome ; lawyers and statesmen were of more account
than feudal nobles. Many of the fugitive troubadours
found their way thither, and brought with them the
fashion of verse-making into Tuscany, Apulia, and
Sicily, as they had already brought it into Lombardy.
There was this difference, however : that, whereas in
the North, where Provencal and other foreign tongues
were more frequently heard, men were content to
borrow the language as well as the methods of their
teachers, in the South, Italian asserted itself from the
first. Frederick himself wrote love-songs — a little con-
ventional, it must be owned ; his great minister, Peter
de Vineis, was one of the earliest exponents of the
sonnet, if he be not indeed the actual inventor of that
metrical form as it ultimately became fixed, with its
two quatrains and two tercets. The names which* we
find attached in the MSS. to the earliest extant pieces
are all, or nearly all, those of southerners — Mazzeo di
Rico and Stefano di Pronto of Messina, Ranieri and
Ruggierone of Palermo, two or three of the Counts of
Aquino, Jacopo of Lentino, Ruggieri and Giacomo of
Apulia. Of course many of the ascriptions are uncer-
tain enough, the very names in some cases taking
different forms in different MSS. Even if we could be
sure of them, we know in most cases nothing further
PREFACE xiii
about the persons. One or two we may perhaps
identify with men of whom other records exist.
Ruggieri d'Amici, of whom a couple of pieces survive,
was probably the Captain of Sicily who went on an
embassy from Frederick to the Sultan of Egypt in
1240. Rinaldo and Jacopo of Aquino were doubtless
members of the House from which sprang the Angelic
Doctor, St. Thomas Aquinas. They may even have
been his elder brothers. The reality of some is
vouched by Dante's references to them, and we have
the same evidence for the correctness of the ascription
of a few poems. Thus he names a ' Judex de Columnis
de Messana ', who is plausibly identified with ' Judex
Guido de Columna' of Messina, the author in 1287 of
a history of the destruction of Troy, which had an
immense popularity down to i5°°j or even later, to
judge by the number of MSS. and editions of it in
existence. To him Dante assigns the poem Amor che
lungiamente, given in the passage just quoted as an
example of the Sicilian school. Altogether, in the De
Vulgari Eloquentia and in the Commedia, Dante men-
tions by name some seven or eight poets, his prede-
cessors ; occasionally with a few words of acute criti-
cism— the first that had been heard for many centuries.
It is only necessary here to refer to the great passage,
Purgatory xxiv. 52-60, wherein, one may almost say,
is contained as in a nutshell the substance of all that
future ages were to debate so keenly of the classic and
the romantic in poetry.1 For it must be remembered
that, rude and rough-hewn as much of their perform-
ance appears to us, these pioneers of Italian poetry
1 See Gaspary, Scuola Poetica Siciliana, pp. 1 78-9.
xiv PREFACE
followed the best poetic tradition of their age and
adhered to its accepted conceits and conventions.
Dante used their language and many of the phrases
to which they had given currency ; but their true
spiritual heir was Petrarch, and through him the
great Petrarchizing school of the cinquecento. Even
in the English lyric verse of the seventeenth century
their influence, passed down through who knows what
long obliterated conduits, seems now and again dis-
tinctly traceable.
Nevertheless, their interest to the student of Dante
is very considerable. Of many of their characteristics,
their allegorizing, their use of metaphor and imagery,
and the like, we detect the influence upon him at every
step. The wonderful thing is how he made conven-
tions spontaneous, and restored its original lustre to
many a well-worn ornament. Take, for example, the
much and rightly praised image in Paradise xx. 73-75
of the lark which soars aloft singing, till, sated with
the sweetness of its own song, it becomes silent. This
beautiful conception is Dante's own ; but Bondie
Dietaiuti before him had borrowed from Bernard de
Ventadour and inserted into a poem of his own the
image of a bird flying upwards with eyes fixed on the
sun, till it is forced to drop to earth
per lo dolzore ch' a lo cor le viene,
or, as the Provencal has it,
per la doussor qu'al cor li vai.
Dante's image is unquestionably the more beautiful ;
but one can hardly doubt that his ' ultima dolcezza che
la sazia ' is an echo of his predecessors.
PREFACE xv
One may even go so far as to say that Beatrice her-
self is the donna of the troubadours and their Italian
imitators, in a sublimated form. Dante's attitude to-
wards her, the love without expectation, or it would
seem desire, of requital, finds its prototype in many of
the older writers. The merely sensual aspect of love,
which holds so prominent a place in the troubadours'
conception of that passion, is far less conspicuous —
though of course instances of it are not lacking — in
the poetry of their Italian followers, or so much of
it as has come down to us. To be allowed to serve
Madonna is all the reward that ' fino amore ' demands ;
' guiderdone e lo servizio ' says Bonagiunta, possibly
in tacit reproof of the Notary's more ambitious
Guiderdone aspetto avire
di voi, donna, cui servire
non m'e noia.
The Notary himself, in his most famous sonnet, ' lo
m' aggio posto in core a Dio servire ' (which Rossetti
has translated), in which the presence of his lady in
Paradise is represented as the lover's chief motive for
serving God, seems to provide the germ which was, in
the greater poet's hands, to attain so magnificent a
development. If indeed the little poem beginning
' Poiche saziar non posso gli occhi miei ' (Ballata X)
be correctly assigned to Dante, he must himself in his
younger days have essayed a variation on the same
theme ; just as in t^e sonnet ' Negli occhi porta la mia
donna amore ' he has uttered with a new richness and
tenderness the commonplace which Bonagiunta and
others had adopted from their Provencal models, of
the power of the lady's presence to purge the thoughts
xvi PREFACE
of the beholders from all sin and baseness. The Vita
Nuova, in fact, shows the influence of the dugeutisti
from end to end, as might, perhaps, have been ex-
pected. But there is abundant evidence in the
Commedia that the influence was upon him to the
last. One instance may suffice. When Beatrice
first appears to Dante's view, after the ' ten years'
thirst', describing the effect on himself, he begins
{Purgatory xxx. 34-36) : —
E lo spirito mio, che gia cotanto
tempo era stato che alia sua presenza
non era di stupor tremando affranto.
Here we have, touched no doubt with the ' grand
style', but quite recognizable, one of the common-
places of the ' Sicilian ' school ; and the kinship is
marked by the use of the word affranto — a Provencal
word introduced by, and familiar enough in, the older
poets, though Dante himself uses it only once elsewhere.
The word was rapidly becoming obsolete, and before
the end of the century we find Benvenuto of Imola,
perhaps the most intelligent of the older commen-
tators, misunderstanding its meaning. Many other
words and forms, familiar enough in the earlier poetry,
had dropped out of use altogether by the time Dante
began to write. But enough has been said to show the
importance to the Dante student of an acquaintance
with these earlier singers.
In Italy the fame of these pioneers was at first ob-
scured by the greater lights of the Trecento — Cino of
Pistoia, Petrarch, Boccaccio — and totally eclipsed with
the general eclipse of Italian letters, which followed the
PREFACE xvii
revival of classical study. Even the few who still cul-
tivated vernacular poetry, such as Giusto de' Conti,
show no trace of their influence. Boccaccio indeed
introduces into one of his stories {Dec. Day X, Nov. 7)
a short canzone, which he attributes to one Mico of
Siena, a poet not otherwise known (unless he be iden-
tical with Mino da Colle). But the style of the little
poem is hardly ' convincing ', and some of the forms
occurring in it are still less so ; so that Tiraboschi is
probably right in conjecturing that it is the offspring
of Messer Giovanni's own muse. Boccaccio's younger
contemporary and pupil, Benvenuto of Imola, in his
commentary on the Commedia, shows some knowledge
of at least the history of the four or five of the earlier
poets whose names occur in the poem ; but from the
fact that he specially mentions having seen the works
of Guittone — ' cuius librum ego vidi ' — it may be in-
ferred that his acquaintance with the others did not
extend to their writings.
From this time onward no notice seems to have
been taken of the early poets until the fifteenth cen-
tury was far advanced. In 1465 Lorenzo de' Medici
fell in at Pisa with Frederick, son of Ferdinand, king
of Naples, by whom he was requested to indicate to
him some Italian poetry worth reading. Lorenzo,
a true poet himself, and evidently possessed of a taste
very unusual in that age of reviving Petrarchism,
' willingly,' says Roscoe, following Tiraboschi, { com-
plied with his request ; and shortly afterwards selected
a small volume, at the close of which he added some
of his own sonnets and canzoni.' Lorenzo's selection,
though Apostolo Zeno in the eighteenth century pro-
xviii PREFACE
fessed to have seen it, seems now to have disappeared ! ;
but the letter which accompanied it is fortunately
preserved, and some sentences in it seem of sufficient
interest to be quoted :
Fu 1' uso della rima, secondo che in una sua latina
epistola scrisse il Petrarca, ancora appresso gli antichi
Romani assai celebrato. II quale per molto tempo inter-
messo comincio nella Sicilia non molti secoli avanti
a rifiorire ; e di qui per la Francia sparto, finalmente
in Italia, quasi in un suo ostello, e pervenuto. II primo
adunque dei nostri (che) a ritrarne la vaga immagine
del novello stilo pose la mano fu 1' Aretino Guittone ;
ed in quella medesima eta il famoso bolognese Guido
Guinizello . . . quel primo alquanto ruvido e severo,
. . . 1' altro tanto di lui piu lucido, piu soave, e piu ornato.
. . . Riluce drieto a costoro il clilicato Guido Cavalcante
fiorentino,sottilissimo dialettico, e filosofo del suo secolo
prestantissimo. . . . Ne si deve il lucchese Bonagiunta ed
il Notaro da Lentino con silenzio trapassare ; 1' uno
e 1' altro grave e sentenzioso, ma in modo d' ogni
fior di leggiadria spogliati, che contenti dovrebbero
restare se fra questa bella manata di si onorati uomini
li riceviamo. E costoro e Piero delle Vigne nella eta di
Guittone furono celebrati. ... II bolognese Onesto e li
siciliani che gia primi furono, come di questi dui (i. e.
Dante and Petrarch) sono piu antichi, cosi della loro
lima piu arebbono mestiero. . . . Assai bene alia sua
nominanza risponde Cino da Pistoia, tutto dilicato
e veramente amoroso ; il quale primo, al mio parere,
cominci6 1' antico rozzore in tutto a schifare ; dal quale
ne il divino Dante, per altro mirabilissimo, si e potuto
per ogni parte schermire.
1 In a letter of May 1742, to Jacopo Facciolati (whose name we now
associate with a Latin Lexicon), he speaks of the MS. as being then in
Facciolati's possession ; and mentions that the last componimenlo in
it is one by the Notary.
PREFACE xix
Lorenzo is, it will be seen, a little vague in his
chronology — though not more so than all students of
early Italian poetry till well past the middle of the last
century ; but he had evidently, at the age of seven-
teen, read and judged for himself. It is noticeable
that he differs from Dante in putting Guittone among
the originators of the • new style ' rather than with the
Notary and Bonagiunta, as representing the old con-
ventional methods. That he was acquainted with
more than the names can hardly be doubted. Some
of the names he might indeed have got from the
Commedia, but not all. Onesto of Bologna is not
mentioned in it, nor does Piero delle Vigne appear
as a poet. Onesto is named, and a line of a poem by
him (now, it would appear, lost) is quoted in V.E.
I. xv ; but it is by no means certain that Lorenzo can
ever have seen that treatise. So we may safely credit
him with having gone to the original MSS. : indeed
with being the first to restore to Italy the memory
of the origins of its own vernacular poetry, which
Humanism had for nearly three generations allowed
to fall into oblivion.
Attention having thus been recalled to the early
poets, they were not, at any rate for some time, wholly
lost sight of. Doubtless, when lyrical poetry revived
in Italy towards the close of the fifteenth century, its
exponents drew their inspiration rather from Petrarch
than from his predecessors ; yet they cannot have been
wholly unacquainted with these. The great Pietro
Bembo, perhaps the most accomplished man of letters
of his day, and for more than the last third of his long
life ( 1 470-1547) the unquestioned arbiter in literary
ba
xx PREFACE
matters, albeit to him as much as to any man the
Petrarchizing fashion was due, knew them well. He
is believed to have possessed a manuscript collection of
their writings, and in his famous treatise on the ver-
nacular tongue, known as Le Prose, he not only names
a large number of them, but quotes from several in
illustration of various points. It is possible that, as
Trissino seems to suggest,1 Bembo's interest in these
matters may have been stimulated by his friendship
with Giuliano, the son of Lorenzo, called, like his
father, II Magnifico, the future Duke of Nemours,
known to all readers of the Cortegiano and all visitors
to the Chapel of San Lorenzo in Florence ; who is
moreover one of the interlocutors in the Prose, the
principal one, indeed, in the third book, where most
of the quotations from the older poets occur. How
much these poets, whom Bembo, following Dante,
calls • Sicilians ', owed to the Provencals, he does not
attempt to conceal. ' Gl' Italiani uomini,' says one of
the speakers, ' apparata hanno questa arte piu tosto che
ritrovata.' The words are indeed put into the mouth
of Ercole Strozzi, the Ferrarese poet, whom the others
are trying to convert from a belief in the superiority
of Latin to Italian as a vehicle for poetry ; but they
do not attempt to controvert them. In fact Federigo
Fregoso (also known to readers of the Cortegiano)
rejoins that it is true, though he himself does not
think much of these older poets, and believes their
reputation to be mainly due to the fact that they
practised their art at the Sicilian Court.
1 See the Preface of Varchi to Cosimo de' Medici in the edition of
17 14 (Venice).
PREFACE xxi
The Prose first appeared in 1525 ; but the work
had been taking shape in the author's mind for many
years. There are, however, other evidences of the
interest which the people of the early Cinquecento felt
in regard to the beginnings of their literature. In
1527 appeared a little book, bearing the imprint of the
house of Giunta at Florence, entitled Soneiti e Can-
zoni di diver si antichi Antori Toscani in dieci libri
raccolte. As a matter of fact there are eleven books,
while the table of contents accounts for nine only.
The first four contain poems by Dante ; the fifth and
seventh are devoted to his contemporaries, Cino of
Pistoia and Dante of Maiano ; the sixth and eighth
respectively to his older friend Guido Cavalcanti and
his predecessor Guittone of Arezzo * ; while the ninth
contains several specimens of the very earliest versi-
fiers, including the Emperor Frederick, Pietro delle
Vigne, and the Notary of Lentino. The preface,
purporting to be addressed by Bernardo di Giunta to
' his most noble youths, lovers of Tuscan rhymes ', is
interesting. The writer, evidently with an eye on
Le Prose, seeks to correct what he considers the
exaggerated estimate of Petrarch ascribed in the
dialogue by one speaker to Pietro Bembo. ' Can we
believe,' he says, ' that if Petrarch had not found these
men before him he would have been able so grace-
fully to set forth his own ? Certainly not ' — a truly
refreshing judgement, it may be said, to meet with
in that age, whether Bernardo di Giunta or another
were its author. Trucchi, not the most trustworthy of
1 The genuineness of the sonnets ascribed in this volume to
Guittone is very doubtful.
xxii PREFACE
authorities, states the selection was mainly the work
of Bardo (? Bernardo, the future historian) Segni and
Cosimo Rucellai.
Two years after the Sonctti e Canzoni a publica-
tion of some importance in Italian literature made its
appearance. That Dante had composed a work on
the Italian vernacular was known from the statements
of Villani and Boccaccio ; but hitherto this had
existed only in manuscript. No doubt learned men.
interested in the subject, had seen it in this form ;
there is pretty clear evidence in the Prose that Bembo
had read it. But in 1529 Giangiorgio Trissino, a
well-meaning, if somewhat heavy-footed, author, critic,
and grammarian, brought out, with some little show
of mystification, what professed to be (and indeed was,
though doubts as to its genuineness were expressed at
the time, and were not entirely extinct two centuries
later1) an Italian rendering of Dante's work. The
treatise in its original Latin did not see the light for
nearly fifty years more, when it was edited (1577) by
Jacopo Corbinelli.2 We shall have occasion to say more
of him presently. Trissino explains his apparent eccen-
tricity of publishing the work first in a translation by
the plea that, though Dante may have found Latin
a better means of making it known outside Italy in his
day, its rude style would make it less intelligible to the
1 See, for example, the remarks assigned to Filippo Strozzi, who
plays the part of advocatus diaboli in Trissino's dialogue // Castellano.
Giovanni Rucellai the ' Castellan ' has little trouble in upsetting
them ; but they may be taken to represent what some people said.
As late as 1699 wc find Apostolo Zeno assuring a friend that the
Latin is as certainly Dante's as the translation is Trissino's.
2 Corbinelli's MS. with his annotations is preserved at Grenoble.
PREFACE xxiii
present — he would doubtless hint, more cultivated —
age ; and indeed the Latin of it, though vigorous and
alive, has not the Ciceronian graces which Humanism
had taught the polite world to expect. But we may
fairly see in his action an illustration of the movement in
favour of the vernacular which Bembo had championed.
The appearance in whatever form of the De Vtilgari
Eloqucntia must have brought the older poets, some
dozen or more of whom are quoted or mentioned by
Dante in the course of it, into still wider notice ;
though it is hard to find any trace of their influence in
the poetry of the succeeding generation. Trissino was
himself, however, sufficiently well acquainted with
them, and in his Poetica quotes them freely. This
treatise, of which the first part appeared in the same
year as the De Vtilgari Eloquentia, while the remain-
der only saw the light nearly forty years later, is of
importance in Italian literary history.1 In this work
the author quotes a good many of the early poems,
including several which seem to have been lost, or to
be still in manuscript. Among them is one attributed
to ' Re Federigo di Sicilia ', presumably Frederick of
Aragon, who reigned in that island from 1296 to 1337,
and is not otherwise known as a versifier, the Re
Federigo or Rex Fridericus of the manuscripts being
the emperor.
The first attempt to supplement the Giunta collec-
tion by the publication of some more of the treasures
yet unprinted was made by Jacopo Corbinelli, an
Italian scholar living at Paris in the latter half of the
sixteenth century ; probably one of the many Italians
1 See Saintsbury, History of Criticism, vol. ii, pp. 39 sqq.
xxiv PREFACE
drawn thither by the Florentine queen Catherine de'
Medici. To Corbinelli we owe, as has been said, the
first publication in its original Latin form of the De
Vulgari Eloquentia in 1577. ^n ]5^^ ne na<^ Pre"
pared an edition of the Bella Memo of Giusto de' Conti ;
and to this he appended what he calls ' Raccolto di
Rime antiche (di) diversi Toscani, oltre a quelle de'
X libri ' (i.e. the Giunta). It has a dedication to Mon-
signore Vulcob, doubtless the diplomatist of that name,
dated June 10, in which the scholar rather pathetically
writes of 'questo mese di maggio, che mi sembra
tuttauia come vna vera primauera di tutti i mali '. It
was the month of the Barricades ; the king had been
driven by the League from his capital ; and Corbinelli
fears that his collection of amatory rimes may seem to
some too effeminate for ' questa stagione cosi rubesta e
martiale '. He pleads, however, that others had done
the like, and ' forse che non sono anco tanto contrari i
dolci suoni di nostra Venere alii strepiti di Marte, che
con la suaueloquentia sua non potesse chiederli anchella
Qualche brene riposo, o qualche pace.' Mars was, how-
ever, too much for Venus, and the book did not appear
till the end of the troubles, in 1595. Corbinelli's taste
seems to have lain rather in the direction of the poets
of the ' stil nuovo', such as Guido Guinizelli, Onesto
of Bologna, Cino of Pistoia, and others yet later ;
but he admits a few pieces from the earlier time of
Piero delle Vigne or the Notary.
No further attempt to do anything for the early poets,
who doubtless fell in the seventeenth century under
the same cloud of oblivion as almost buried Dante,
was made for seventy years ; though many of them,
PREFACE xxv
including Frederick and his son Enzo, the Notary,
Guittone, Guinizelli, are cited, to illustrate words and
phrases, in the Glossary to the Roman edition of
Francesco da Barberino's Documenti d Amorc (1640).
In 1 661 Leone Allacci, librarian of the Vatican, brought
out Poeti Antichi raccolti da' Codici manoscritti, a. col-
lection, badly printed and carelessly edited, of poems of
all dates from Piero delle Vigne to Burchiello.1 Its chief
importance lies in the fact that in it appeared for the
first time in a somewhat dilapidated form a piece
which was long regarded as the very earliest offspring
of the Italian, or Sicilian, muse, the Fresco, rosa aulen-
tissima, of which a line had been quoted by Dante in
the V. E. More will have to be said of this hereafter ;
it is sufficient to remark here that Italian critics have
contrived to shed over it more ink, in proportion to
its bulk and intrinsic value, than all the Homeric and
Shakespearian commentators have done over their
authors.
At about the time when Allacci was compiling his
selection, his contemporary, Francesco Redi, poet and
physiologist, was also paying some attention to these
early poets, of whom he seems to have possessed
sundry manuscripts. In the ' annotations ' to his
famous ' dithyramb ' Bacco in Toscana, in which he
poured out his stores of learning, literary and philo-
logical, he cites various pieces by Pannuccio del Bene,
Pucciandone Martelli, Guittone of Arezzo, and others,
which had not previously been printed. Generally
there are signs that at this time Italian men of letters
were again beginning to remember that poets had
1 Third edition (1691).
xxvi PREFACE
lived before Marino. Redi and his friend Magalotti
were enthusiastic admirers of Dante ; the latter had
even planned an edition of the Commedia. Towards
the end of the century, as we have seen, Apostolo
Zeno (who might also be called the Bembo of his
age) was interesting himself in Lorenzo's selection of
early poetry, and in the De Vulgari Eloquentia.
But the only actual attempt at the publication of any
of the older poetry seems to have been a Raccolta
delle Rime Antiche, cited by Valeriani in his Poeti
del Primo Seeolo, and stated by him to have been
printed at Venice in 1740.1 In 1753 Giannalberto
Tumermani — the name has a very Teutonic ring—
a learned publisher of Verona, having discovered in
the library of S. Giustina at Padua, among other
books of Corbinelli's, a copy of the Bella Mano with
manuscript annotations by him, thought it worth
while to republish the work with some additions of
his own. Then again followed a period of oblivion.
Owing no doubt to the prevailing ' classical ' ten-
dencies in literature, the founders of national poetry
were during the rest of the century of as little account
in Italy as elsewhere. Academic critics, the In-
quisitors, as they have been well styled, of letters,
found their language too often rude and uncouth, as
their predecessors had done before them ; but, unlike
some at least of their predecessors, they failed to see
that passion and tenderness, and even melody when
1 I can find no trace of this selection of 1740. No copy seems to
exist in the British Museum. Nor, indeed, is Fiacchi to be found
there ; but his existence, as Mr. Toynbee tells me, is vouched for
by later evidence (Gamba, 4th ed., no. 806;,
PREFACE xxvii
the rhythm is properly understood, may exist in
company with forms of speech no longer accepted in
polite circles.
With the growth of the 'romantic' movement the
reaction came. The term ' mediaeval ' ceased to de-
note something that persons of cultivation might
safely neglect in art and literature. As has been
said, the study of Dante made great progress during
the latter half of the eighteenth century ; and, with
him, his forerunners became again worthy of con-
sideration. The Abate Luigi Fiacchi appears to
have led the way, with his Scelta di Rime Antic he
(Florence, 1812). Valeriani followed in 18 16, with
the work already mentioned, containing most, or all,
of the pieces that had already appeared in print,
together with many others, to the number of six
hundred or so in all, edited, not always very intelli-
gently, from various MSS.1 A year later the
Marquis of Villarosa brought out at Palermo four
volumes of Rime Antiche Toscane, containing, or pro-
fessing to contain, all the pieces up to that time
printed, and representing the works of nearly a
hundred and fifty authors. This compilation, like
Valeriani's, suffers from lack of scholarly editing, for
which the times were perhaps hardly ripe. It is also
untrustworthy in its ascription of poems to authors.
It has short biographies of the authors, mostly taken
from Crescimbeni. No editor's name appears on the
title of either of these ; nor on that of Valeriani's
edition of Guittone (1828).
1 Trucchi states that both Valeriani and Villarosa made use of the
Codex of Pier del Nero, preserved in the Riccardian Library.
xxviii PREFACE
The first modern editor to resort avowedly to the
manuscripts preserved in the various libraries of Italy
was Francesco Trucchi, ' fellow of various Academies '
as he styles himself on his title. Trucchi unfortu-
nately had more enthusiasm for his subject than
critical discernment. He accepts without question
the impossibly early dates for some of his authors
which had been assigned by Crescimbeni and others.
He broaches wild theories about the Vatican MS.
3793, our great source for most of the poems earlier
than 1300. His emendations are not always con-
vincing. For all these faults subsequent Italian
critics have dealt faithfully enough with him. Still he
deserves gratitude as the first who went to work on
the right lines ; and the long Preface of over one
hundred pages, to the anthology of poets from the
beginnings of the language to the seventeenth cen-
tury, which he styles Poesie Italiane inedite di
dugento Aittori (Prato, 1846), is stimulating and
interesting, and may yet be read with profit by
students of Italian verse.
From the middle of the last century to the present
time it cannot be said that the early Italian poets
have had any cause to complain of the neglect of
their countrymen ; of those, at any rate, who troubled
themselves about literary matters. Salvini, writing
early in the eighteenth century, had called attention
to the duty of paying reverence to c our fathers, and the
authors of the fair tongue which does us honour ' ; not
to mention their value as preserving the original signifi-
cations of words, 'born but not yet formed.' Following
up this hint, the learned Vincenzo Nannucci pub-
PREFACE xxix
lished in 1856 his Mantmle della Letter atur a del Primo
Secolo della Lingua Ltaliana, in which special atten-
tion is paid to the meaning and history of words.
His philology is of course somewhat prescientific ; but
hardly more so than much that may be found in many
recent and highly commended editions of Dante.
Nannucci does not seem to have troubled himself
much over the text of the pieces which he gives, but
to have contented himself with following the printed
editions. Before long, however, scholars began to
gird themselves to this task. Periodicals were started
in which students could impart to one another their
theories or discoveries ; manuscripts were carefully
collated ; and efforts made to get the text of various
pieces into an acceptable, or sometimes an intelligible,
form. A great step was made by the publication of
the Vatican MS. 3793, edited with apparatus criticus
and notes, by Professors D'Ancona and Comparetti
(Bologna, 1875-88) under the title of Antiche Rime
Volgari. Professor Monad's Crestomazia Ltaliana
dei Primi Secoli (Citta di Castello, 1889-97) contains,
besides many of the most notable of the pieces in the
Vatican MS., several which do not occur in it, and
collations of variants. Unfortunately only the text
has so far appeared, and it seems probable that the
grammatical notes and glossary promised on the title,
which all students would have welcomed, will now
never see the light. A good many of the early poems
have found a place in recent anthologies, such as
Eugenia Levi's Lirica ltaliana Antica (Florence,
1905), and Giosue Carducci's Antica Lirica Ltaliana
(Florence, 1907). Quite recently the Philological
Society of Rome has, with the aid of Signori Satta,
xxx PREFACE
Egidi, and Festa, produced verbatim et literatim, under
the title of // Libro de Varie Romanze Volgarc (cited
in this volume as V.R. V.\ the text of the Vatican
MS. 3793 (Rome, 1902-6 : index and preface yet to
come). From this it is possible for any one with a slight
knowledge of palaeography to suggest emendations
(still sorely needed) almost as well as from the original ;
and I have availed myself of it freely.1
In a book intended for English readers mention
must not be omitted of the one attempt which has
hitherto been made to introduce them to this remark-
able band of poets. In 1 86 1 Dante Gabriel Rossetti
published, under the title of The Early Italian Poets
from Ciullo D'Alcamo to Dante, a translation into
English verse of a number of the best specimens of
their work, accompanied by a rendering of Dante's
Vita Nuova. It was republished, with some re-
arrangement, in 1874, under the new title of Dante
and his Circle. In both forms it met with approval,
especially in quarters to which Rossetti's influence
directly or indirectly penetrated ; but it is to be feared
that it did little or nothing towards stimulating any
desire in this country to make closer acquaintance
with the writers whom Rossetti was trying to make
known. Perhaps wisely — for his rendering, though it
often has much of the feeling of the original, is often
little better than a loose paraphrase — he did not print,
except for the first lines, the Italian text of the
1 I have also used the work of D'Ancona and Comparetti, but as
my text has always been based, for the poems existing in the Vatican
MS., on the Roman edition, I have not thought it necessary to record
their presence in the Antiche Rime. Similarly I have only referred to
Valeriani, Villarosa, Trucchi, &c, for pieces not in that MS., for which
their edition had to be used.
PREFACE xxxi
poems. He also relies for dates and biographical
details somewhat too implicitly on the uncritical
statements of Trucchi and his predecessors.
In spite of Rossetti's effort to make these fore-
fathers of Italian poetry known, it is certain that they
have received very little recognition in this country.
In the days when Englishmen paid some attention to
Italian literature, the days of Roscoe, Mathias, and
Hallam, the youth of Tennyson and of Gladstone,
the days when people
lay and read
The Tuscan poets on the lawn —
the ' stilo rozzo ed inculto ' view still held sway. Now
that this mood has, as it would seem, passed away for
the time, and almost too much interest is professed in
the early stages of certain literatures, Italian literature
of all periods is curiously neglected. People, it is
true, talk a good deal about Dante, and valuable
works dealing with his writings appear from time to
time in England ; but many of these are written from
other than the literary points of view, while the
average local ' Dante Society ' is quite content to
study him in translations. Publishers, again, seem to
find a market for books dealing with Petrarch, Ariosto,
and Tasso, some of them of considerable merit, both
for research and for scholarship ; but it would be
interesting to know how many readers these have
sent to the authors themselves. When the great
names of the so-called classical age of Italian litera-
ture are thus neglected, how can it be expected that
much care will be taken of its remote origins, of these
singers the greater part of whom are little more than
names, sometimes hardly that? Yet it may safely
xxxii PREFACE
be said that no one who wishes fully to trace out
the course of Italian literature, to understand the
significance of the change in it brought about by the
genius more especially of Petrarch, or, in other words,
the gulf which divides the mediaeval genius from that
of the ' Renaissance ', can afford to pass them over.
They, with Dante, seem to represent for Italy all that
it has ever to show of truly poetical poetry — the
poetry which thrills and not merely delights. We
turn away from Petrarch's justly praised description
of the dead Laura, — ' Pallida no, ma piu che neve
bianca ' — or from the finest sonnet of the second part,
admiring but unmoved, perhaps with an uneasy con-
sciousness that the poet had one thought for his
departed lady and two for the cadence and diction of
his line. Who, on the other hand, can read such
pieces as the ' Morte, perche ' of Giacomino Pugliese
(No. XIV in the present selection) with its passionate
reminiscence of ■ madonna's ' graces and perfections,
modulated away to the tender resignation of the
closing lines, without a tremor of the voice ? When
did Petrarch, or any who came after Petrarch, render
the forlorn lament of a forsaken damsel with the
pathetic truth of Rinaldo of Aquino in ' Giammai non
mi conforto ' (No. XI) ? Even in the point of form,
these early experiments in versification are often more
interesting than the more polished performances of
later days, tied by the rules which the Bembos and
Trissinos laid down and Academies enforced for the
better furthering of the poetic art. We shall look in
vain through all the work of the Cinquecento for any-
thing like the lilt, with its suggestion of a jovial
swagger, in spite of sighs and sleepless nights, of the
PREFACE xxxiii
lyric (No. XVIII) in which Jacopo d'Aquino bewails
his absence from his lady. Even in Fra Guittone,
the overesteemed, as Dante thought, we find a
certain stately seriousness, both of thought and move-
ment, which goes far to explain the high estimate of
his contemporaries, and makes us wonder somewhat
why the great poet, who looked on life from so
similar a point of view, and was obviously not un-
indebted to him, should so often have found it neces-
sary to hold him up as a bad example, if not to scorn.
Of course these men are full of ' common form ', of
hyperbole, of well-worn ' conceits '. But even these
were fresh, so far as their own language went ; and it
may be questioned whether the childlike disposition
to adopt these time-honoured commonplaces, found
practically in all early poetry, is not more consistent
with the true poetic spirit than the effort, of which
we find examples even in Petrarch, and enough and
to spare in the Petrarchists of a later date, to say
something as it has never been said before.1
Upon the language of these poems a good deal has
been written by Italian scholars. The vocabulary, as
1 In this connexion a word may be said about the curious piece
entitled Mare Amoroso, given by Monaci in his Crestotnazia ; a blank
verse poem of 356 lines consisting of a string of all the quaint similes,
allusions to mythology and romance, and other stock ornaments of
the older school. It is preserved, and that in a very corrupt state,
only in a MS. of the Riccardian Library, and is believed, probably
with reason, by Gaspary to belong to the fourteenth century. It is
a sort of ' cento ' of all the far-fetched similes and conceits dear to
the early lyrists, and looks very like a ' skit ' on the part of some
early 'Humanist' written to hold up to derision the school of
poets now superseded. If this view be correct, it is interesting as
the earliest specimen of Italian blank verse.
BUTLER c
xxxiv PREFACE
has been said, owes much to Provencal, something
also to French ; but owing to the fact that these
represent practically all, or nearly all, that we possess
in the way of specimens of the earliest Italian, it is
hard to say how many of these words were already
current, and how many consciously imported by them.
The dialect has many affinities with that of Sicily and
the old Sicilian territories in the Peninsula. Con-
spicuous instances are the apparent identity of sound
between e and t, o and «, allowing a licence in rhyme
of which even Dante occasionally avails himself. It
is, however, impossible to be certain that we have the
language in its original form. Scribes would natur-
ally tend to modify orthography in the direction of
their native dialect ; the more so as many of the
poems were obviously written down from memory —
in some cases, it would seem, by notaries' clerks and
suchlike in their idle moments. The grammar again
differs often from that now usual ; but the reader who
knows his Dante will not find much difficulty in dis-
entangling it. Those who need help cannot find a
better guide than the Altitalienisches Elementarbucli
by Berthold Wiese (Heidelberg, 1904). Unfortunately
no English version of this exists, or, in the present
condition of Italian study, is likely soon to do so.
In the matter of textual criticism, and annotation
generally, the editor has striven always to keep before
his eyes the principles so admirably expounded by
Johnson in his ' Proposals ' and ' Preface ' to an edition
of Shakespeare. No man ever has improved upon
them ; no man, so long as textual criticism and ex-
planatory comment are demanded, ever will. ' Con-
jecture, though it be sometimes unavoidable, I have
PREFACE xxxv
not wantonly nor licentiously indulged. It has been
my settled principle that the reading of the ancient
books is probably true' (this has to be taken with
some latitude in the case of MSS.), ' and therefore is
not to be disturbed for the sake of elegance, per-
spicuity, or mere improvement of the sense . . . But
it is evident that they' (and still more their later
editors) ' have often made strange mistakes by ignor-
ance or negligence, and that therefore something may
be properly attempted by criticism, keeping the
middle way between presumption and timidity.'
The present selection includes only poems which
are known, or may be safely assumed, to have been
written before 1300. This of course excludes some
of the best by Cino of Pistoia, the only one of the
authors, of whom examples are given, who is known
to have lived into the next century. Further, only
Canzoni have been included ; and these have been
selected for their intrinsic merits either of thought or
rhythm, or, in some cases, as affording examples of
the special peculiarities of the school. All those
cited by Dante in the V. E., so far as they are
now extant, have been included. The Canzone, as
a rule, is capable of finer effects than the sonnet,
besides admitting of much greater rhythmical variety.
Still, the sonnet, as the undoubted invention of the
Italian muse, has great claims on the attention of
students of Italian ; and if readers of this little selection
care for a companion volume of that form of verse
the present editor, si vita suppeditei, may one day
endeavour to supply it.
A. J. Butler.
[May], 1908.
NOTE
Si vita suppeditet. The answer to these words has been
given, and this book lacks the author's finishing touches.
The notes were finished on February 14, and he was ' caught
by death', to use his own expression, on February 26, 1910.
The proofs have had to be corrected by other hands.
EARLY LYRIC POETS OF
ITALY
PIERO DELLE VINGNE
Amor, da cui move tuttora ed ene
pregio, e larghezza, e tutta benenanza,
viene nell' uom valente ed insengnato,
che nom poria divisare lo bene
che ne nascie ed aviene chi a leanza ;
ond' io ne sono in parte tralasciato,
ma si diro come ello m' a locato
ed onorato piu ch' altro amadore
per poco di servire ;
ca s' io volglio ver dire
di tale guisa m' ave fatto onore,
ca se a slocato, e miso m' a 'n suo stato.
Istato si rico ed alto non fue dato
di si poco servire, al mio parvente ;
ond' io mi tengno bene avventuroso,
e veio ben c' amor m' a piu norato
intra gli altri amadori ciertamente,
ond' io m' allegro e vivo piu gioioso.
Che m' a donato quella c' a. per uso
bellezze ed adornezze e piacimento,
e aunor e conoscienza
in lei senza partenza
fanno sogiorno, ed a le al suo talento ;
senno la guida e fin presgio amoroso.
B
PIERO DELLE VINGNE
Presgio ed aunor ad essa lei davanza,
ed e dismisurata di gran guisa
d' avere tutto bene in provedenza;
di lei c' amor m' a miso in sua possanza
la conosciente senza lunga attesa
mi meritao della sua benvolglienza.
C assai val melglio poco di ben, senza
briga di noia e d' affanno acquistato
<ca rico) per ragione,
poiche passa stagione,
e dell' om rico deve esser laudato;
perb i' non n' 6 fatto penitenza.
Penitenza non agio fatta neiente,
al mio parvente poco agio servito;
ma tuttavia seraggio servitore
di tutto c' amor m' a fatto gaudente
dell' avenente, per cui vado ardito ;
piu d'altro amante deo aver fin core.
E non vorrei essere lo sengnore
di tutto il mondo, per aver perdita
di sua benvolglienza,
c' agio senza temenza,
che mi mantene in amorosa vita,
si che 'n esta contento lo mio core.
Lo mio core tenesi contento
del grande abento ove amor m' a miso ;
mille grazie n' aggia ciascun' ore,
c' agio tutto cib che m' e a talento
dair amorosa donna al chiaro viso,
che mi dono comforto con valore.
E' non si poria pensare per core
com' a tutte bellezze a compimento ;
PIERO DELLE VINGNE
dunqu' eo nom — o fallo
se no 'nde (piu eo) parlo;
che lingua non po aver in parlamento
di dire piu che il cor sia pensatore.
II
(V.R.V.)
Amore, in cui disio ed 6 speranza,
di voi, bella, m' a dato guiderdone,
guardomi infin che vengna la speranza,
pur aspettando buon tempo e stagione;
com' uom ch' e in mare ed a spene di gire.
e quando vede il tempo, ed ello spanna,
e giamai la speranza non lo 'nganna;
cos' io faccio, madonna, in voi venire.
Or potess' eo venir a voi, amorosa,
com lo larone ascoso, e non paresse ;
bello mi teria in gioia aventurosa
se 1' amor tanto bene mi facesse.
Si bel parlante, donna, con voi fora,
e direi como v' amai lungiamente,
piii ca Piramo Tisbia dolzemente,
ed ameraggio infin ch' io vivo ancora.
Vostro amor e che mi tiene in disiro
e donami speranza con gran gioia,
ch' io non euro s' io dolglio od 6 martiro
membrando 1' ora ched io vengno a voi ;
ca s' io troppo dimoro, aulente lena,
par ch' io pera, e voi mi perderete;
adunque, bella, se ben mi volete,
guardate che non mora in vostra spena.
In vostra spena vivo, donna mia,
e lo mio core adesso a voi dimando,
B 2
PIERO DELLE VINGNE
e V ora tardi mi pare che sia
che fino amore a vostro cor mi mando ;
e guardo tempo che (mi) sia a piaci(mento)
e spanda le mie vele inver voi, rosa,
e prendo porto la 've si riposa
lo mio core al vostro insengnamento.
Mia canzonetta, porta esti compianti
a quella c' a 'm ballia lo mio core,
e le mie pene contale davanti,
e dille com' io moro per su' amore;
e mandimi per suo messagio a dire
com' io comforti l'amor che lei porto,
e se ver lei i' feci alcuno torto,
donimi penitenza al suo volire.
(VR.V. Mon. Val. Nan.)
NOTARO GIACOMO
III
Madonna, dir vi voglio
come l'amor m' a priso,
inver lo grande orgoglio
che voi bella mostrate, e non m' aita.
01 lasso, lo meo core,
ch' e in tanta pena miso
che vede che si more
per ben amare, teneselo in vita.
Or dunque morire' eo?
no, ma lo core meo
more spesso e piu forte
che no faria di morte naturale ;
NOTARO GIACOMO
per voi, donna, cui ama
piu che se stesso brama,
e voi pur lo sdegnate ;
amor, vostr' amistate vidi male.
Lo meo namoramento
non po parire in detto ;
cosi com' eo lo sento
core nol penseria ne diria lingua;
Cib ch' eo dico e neente,
inver ch' eo son distretto ;
tanto coralemente
foe' aio, che non credo mai si stingua;
anzi se pur aluma ;
perche non mi consuma?
la salamandra audivi
che nelo foco vivi, stando sana;
cosi fo per long' uso,
vivo in foco amoruso
e non saccio che dica;
lo meo lavoro spica, e non mi grana
Madonna, se m' avene
ch' eo nom posso invenire
com eo dicesse bene
la propia cosa ch' eo sento d' amore ;
sicom' omo improdito
lo cor mi fa sentire
che giammai non e chito
fintanto che non vene a suo sentore ;
lo non poter mi turba,
com om che pinge e sturba,
e pura li dispiace
lo pingere che face, e se riprende,
NOTARO GIACOMO
che non e per natura
la propia pintura ;
e non e da biasmare
omo che cade in mare, se s' apprende.
Lo vostro amore (che) m' ave
in mare tempestoso
cosi como la nave,
c' a la fortuna gitta ogni pesanti,
e campane per getto
del loco periglioso,
similemente eo getto
a voi, bella, li miei sospiri e pianti.
E s' eo no gli gittasse,
paria che s' afondasse ;
e bene s' afondara
lo cor, tanto gravara il suo disio.
Tanto si frangie a terra
tempesta che s' aterra,
eo cosi mi frango,
quando sospiro e piango, posar creio.
Assai mi son mostrato
a voi, donna spietata,
com' eo son inamorato ;
ma creio che spiaceria a voi pinto.
Poi c' a me lasso solo
cotal ventura e data,
perche non me ne lasso?
non posso ; di tal guisa amor m' a vinto.
A Deo ! c' or avenisse
a lo meo cor c' uscisse
com' e 'ncarnato tutto,
e non diciesse motto a voi sdengnosa.
NOTARO GIACOMO 7
C amor a tal 1' adusse
che se vipra ivi fusse
natura perderia ;
a tal lo vederia, fora pietosa.
(V.R.V. Giunta. Mon.)
IV
Dolcie coninciamento
canto per la piu fina
che si' al mio parimento
d'Agri ;nfin a Messina,
cib e la piu avenente.
' O Stella riluciente
che levi la maitina,
quando m' appar davanti
li suoi dolzi sembianti
m' inciendon la corina.'
— ' Dolcie meo sir, s' incendi
or io che degio fare?
tu stesso mi riprendi
se mi vei favellare ;
ca tu m' ai inamorata,
al core m' ai lanciata,
si ca di for non pari ;
rimembriti a la fiata
quand' io t' ebbi abrazata
a li dolzi basciari.'
Ed io basciando stava
in gran dilettamento
con quella che m' amava,
bionda, viso d' argento.
Presente mi contava
e non mi si cielava
NOTARO GIACOMO
tutto suo convenente ;
e disse : f i' t' ameragio
e non ti falleragio
a tutto '1 mio vivente.
— ' Al mio vivente, amore,
io non ti falleragio
per lo lusingatore
che parla di [tal] fallagio.'
— 'Ed io si t' ameragio ;
per quello ch' e salvagio
Dio li mandi dolore,
unqua non venga a magio ;
tant' e di mal usagio
che di stat' a gielore.'
V
M aravigliosamente
un amor mi distringe,
e sovenemi ogn' ora ;
com omo che ten mente
in altra parte, e pinge
la simile pintura;
cosi, bella, face' eo,
dentro alio core meo
porto la tua figura.
In cor par ch' eo vi porte,
pinta como voi sete,
e non pare di fore.
O Deo, che mi par forte ;
che non so se savete
com io v' amo a bon core
ca son si vergognoso
V.R.V. Mon )
NOTARO GIACOMO
ch' eo pur vi guardo ascoso,
e non vi mostro amore.
Avendo gran disio
dipinsi una pintura,
bella, a voi simigliante.
E quando voi non vio
guardo in quella figura
e par ch' eo v' aggia avante,
si com om che si crede
salvarsi per sua fede
ancor non vea inante.
Al cor m' arde una doglia
com om che tene '1 foco
a lo suo seno ascoso,
che quanto piu lo 'nvoglia
allora arde piu loco,
e non pub stare incluso ;
similemente io ardo,
quando passo e non guardo
a voi viso amoroso.
Se siete, quando passo,
inver voi non mi giro,
bella, per isguardare;
andando ad ogni passo
gittone uno sospiro
che mi facie angosciare.
E certo bene angoscio
c' a pena mi conoscio,
tanto bella mi pare.
Assai v' aggio laudato,
Madonna, in tutte parti,
io N0TAR0 GIACOMO
di bellezze c' avete.
Non so se v' e contato
ch' eo lo faccia per arti,
che voi ve ne dolete.
Sacciatelo per singa
cib che vi dirb a linga
quando voi mi vedete.
Canzonetta novella,
va, e canta nova cosa ;
levati da maitino
davanti a la piu bella
fiore d' ogni amorosa,
bionda piu ch' auro fino.
Lo vostro amor, ch' e caro,
donatelo al notaro
ch' e nato da Lentino.
(V.R.V. Mon. Nan/,
VI
Ben m' e venuta prima al cor doglienza,
poi benvoglienza, d'orgolglio me rendente
di voi, madonna, incontro a mia sofrenza;
non e valenza far male a sofrente.
Ma si e potente vostra signoria'
ch' avendo male, piu v' amo ogni dia.
Pero tuttor la troppa sicuranza
ubria conoscenza ed inoranza.
E dunque, amor, ben fora convenenza
d' aver temenza, como 1' altra gente
che tornano di lor disconoscenza
alia credenza di lor benvolente.
NOTARO GIACOMO n
Chi e temente fugge villania,
e per coverta tal fa cortesia
che non voria da voi bella sembianza
se dal core non vi venisse amanza.
Ch' io non faccio, donna, contendenza,
ma ubbidenza, ed amo coralmente,
perb non dev' io pianger penitenza,
che nullo senza colpa e penitente;
naturalmente avvene tuttavia,
ch' omo s' orgolglia a chi lo contraria,
ma vostro orgolglio passa sorchietanza,
che si smisura contro ad umilianza.
E chi per torto batte e fa increscenza
de' ben far penitenza, e poi si pente ;
perb mi pasco di bona credenza
c' amor coninza prima a dar tormente;
dunque saria piu giente gioia mia
se per mi' amor 1' orgoglio s' umilia,
e la ferezza torna a pietanza;
ben lo pub far amor ch' egli e su' usanza.
Voi so che sete senza percepenza,
como Fiorenza che d' orgoglio sente.
Guardate a Pisa ch' a gran conoscenza
che fugge intenza d' orgogliosa gente.
Gia lungamente orgolglio v' a 'n balia ;
Melan a lo carroccio par che sia.
Ma se si tarda 1' umile speranza
se soffra sgombra, e vince ogni tardanza.
(V.R.V.)
12
JACOPO MOSTACCI
VII
Umile core e fino e amoroso,
gia fa lunga stagione c' 6 portato
buonamente a l'amore ;
di lei avanzare adesso fui pensoso
oltre podere e infin ch' era affannato,
nonde sentia dolore.
Pertanto non di lei partia coraggio
ne mancava lo fino piacimento,
mentre non vidi in ella folle usaggio
lo quale avea cangiato lo talento.
Ben m' averia per servidore avuto,
se non (si) fosse di fraude adonata,
perche lo gran dolzore
e la gran gioia ch' e stata, i' la rifiuto;
ormai gioia che per lei mi fosse data
non m' averia savore.
Perb ne parto tutta mia speranza
ch' ella parti del pregio e del valore;
che mi fa uopo aver altr' intendanza
onde acquisti cib che perdei d' amore.
Perb se 'n altra intendo e d' ella parto
non le sia greve e non le sia oltraggio,
tant' e di vano affare;
ma ben credo saver e valer tanto,
poi la solglio avanzare, c' a dannaggio
le saveria contare.
Ma non mi piace adesso quello dire
ch' eo ne fusse tenuto misdicente ;
ch' assai val meglio chi si sa partire
da reo signor e alungiar buonamente.
JACOPO MOSTACCI 13
Om che si parte a lunga, fa savere
di loco ove possa essere affannato,
e tranne suo pensiero ;
ed io ne parto e traggone volere
e dolglio dello tempo trapassato,
che m' e stato falliero.
Ma non dotto, c' a tale signoria
mi son donato ; che buon guiderdone
mi donera, per cib che no m' oblia ;
lo ben servente merit' a stagione.
(V.R.V. lion.)
VIII
Amor ben veio che mi fa tenere
manera e costumanza
d' augello, c' arditanza lascia stare
quando lo verno vede sol venire ;
ben mette 'n ubrianza
la gioiosa baldanza di svernare ;
e par che la stagione non li piaccia,
• che la freddura inghiaccia ;
e poi per primavera
ricovera manera,
e suo cantare innova e sua ragione ;
ed ogni cosa vuole sua stagione.
Amor, lo tempo che non m' era a grato,
mi tolse lo cantare ;
credendo migliorare io mi ritenne.
Or canto, che mi sento migliorare,
ca per bene aspettare
solazzo ed alegrare e gioi' mi venne
per la piu dolce donna ed avenente
14 JACOPO MOSTACCI
che niai amasse amante,
quella ch' e di beltate
sovrana e in veritate,
che ognunque donna passa ed ave vinto,
e passa perle, smeraldo e giacinto.
Madonna, s' io son dato in voi laudare,
non vi paia lusinga ;
c' amor tanto mi stringa ch' io ci falli ;
ch' io 1' aggio udito dire ed acciertare,
sovrana e vostra insegna
e bene siete degna senza falli.
E consolomi in gran buona ventura
s' io v' amo a dismisura;
e s' io non son si lico
ben me ne tengo rico,
assai piu ch' io non so dir in parole ;
quegli e rico c' ave cio che vuole.
Donna e 1' amore han fatto compagnia,
e teso un dolce laccio
per mettere in sollaccio lo mio stato ;
e voi mi siete gen til, donna mia,
colonna e forte braccio,
per cui sicuro giaccio in ogni lato.
Gioioso e baldo canto d' allegranza,
c' amor m' e scudo e lanza,
e spada difendente
da ogni maldicente,
e voj mi siete, bella, rocca e muro;
mentre vivo per voi starb sicuro.
(V.R.V. Tr. Nan.)
is
KING JOHN OF BRIENNE
IX
Donna, audite como
mi tengo vostr' omo
e non d' altro signore.
La mia vita fina
voi 1' avete in dotrina
ed in vostro tenore.
Oi chiarita spera,
la vostra dolce ciera
de l'altr' e genzore.
Cosi similemente
e lo vostro colore.
Colore non vidi si gente
ne 'n tinta ne fiore,
ancor la fiore sia aulente
voi avete il dolzore,
dolze tempo e gaudente
inver la pascore.
Ogn' omo c' ama altamente
si de' aver bon core
d' essere cortese e valente
e leal servidore
inver la sua donna piagente
chui ama a tutore.
Tutor de' guardare
di fare fallanza;
che non e da laudare
chi non a leanza,
e ben de' om guardare
la sua noranza.
i6 KING JOHN OF BRIENNE
Cierto be' mi pare
che si faccia biasmare
chi si vuol orgogliare
la 've non ha possanza ;
e chi bene vuol fare
si si de' umiliare
inver [sua] donna, amare
e far conoscanza.
Or vegna a ridare
chi ci sa andare ;
e chi a intendanza
si degia allegrare
e gran gioia menare
per fin' amanza.
Chi no lo sa fare
si si vada a posare,
non si faccia biasmare
di trarresi a danza.
Fino amor m' ha comandato
ch' io m' allegri tuttavia,
faccia si ch' io servo a grato
a la dolce donna mia,
queila c' amo piu 'n cielato
che Tristano non facea
Isotta, com' e contato,
ancor che le fosse zia;
lo re Marco era 'ngannato
perch' el lui si confidia.
Ello n' era smisurato
e Tristan se ne godea
de lo bel viso rosato
ch' Isaotta biond' avea;
ancor che fosse pecato
KING JOHN OF BRIENNE 17
altro far non ne potea;
c' a la nave H fu dato
onde ci6 li dovenia.
Nullo si faccia mirato
s5 io languisco tuttavia,
ch' io son piu inamorato
che null' altr' omo che sia.
Per la fior de [le] contrate,
che tutte [1'] altre passate
di belleze e [di] bontate
donzelle, or v' adornate;
tutte a madonna andate
e merce[de] le chiamate,
che di me aggia pietate,
di que' che la [rijmembranza
le degiate portare ;
giamai 'n altr' intendanza
non mi voglio penare,
se no 'n lei, per amanza,
che lo meglio mi pare.
Dio mi lasci v[ed]er la dia
ch' io serva a madonna mia
a piacimento ;
ch' io servire la voria
a la fior di cortesia
e [d'] insegnamento.
Meglio mi tengo per pagato
di madonna,
che s' io avessi lo contato
di Bologna,
e la Marca e lo ducato
di Guascogna.
18 KING JOHN OF BRIENNE
E le donne e le donzelle
rendano le lor castelle
sanza temere ;
tosto tosto vada fore
chi non ama di bon core
a piaciere.
(V.R.V. Tr. Mon.)
RINALDO D'AQUINO
X
Per fino amore vo si lletamente
ch' io non aggio veduto
omo ch' in gioia mi possa aparigliare ;
e paremi che falla malamente
omo c' ha riceputo
ben da sengnore e poi lo vuol cielare.
Ma eo nol cielaraggio
com' altamente amor m' ha meritato,
che m' ha dato a servire
a la fiore di tutta canoscienza
e di valenza
e di bellezze piu che non so dire.
Amor m' ha sormontato
lo core in mante guise, e gran gioia n' aggio.
Aggio gioi' piu di nullo certamente,
c' amor m' a si arriccuto,
da che lei piacio, che la degia amare,
poi che (ella) delle donne e la piu gente
si alto dono aggio avuto,
d' altro amador piu degio in gioia stare ;
che null' altro coraggio
poria aver gioia ver core inamorato.
Dunqua senza fallire
RINALDO D' AQUINO 19
a la mia gioia null' altra gioia s' intenza ;
non ho temenza
c' altro amador potesse unque avenire,
per suo servire a grato
de lo suo fino amor, al mio paragio.
Para no averai, si se' valente;
che lo mondo a. cresciuto
lo presgio tuo, si lo sape avanzare.
Presgio d' amore non vale neente,
poi donna ha ritenuto
a servidore, c' altro de' pigliare ;
che 1' amoroso usagio
non vuol che sia per donna meritato
piu d' uno a tiranare,
ched altrui ingannare e gran fallenza
in mia parvenza;
chi fa del suo servire dipartire
quelli c' assai e stato,
senza mal fare, mal fa sengnoragio.
Sengnoria vuol ch' io serva lealmente,
che mi sia ben renduto
buon merito, che non saccio biasmare,
e Dio mi laudo, che piu altamente
che non aio servuto
amor m' ha coninzato a meritare.
Se bene che faraggio
quando sard d' amor cosi inalzato,
pero voria compiere
come de' far chi si bene inconenza ;
ma no credenza
che non venisse mai per mio volere ;
si [d' amor] (non) son aiutato
i' ho piu d' aquisto che non serviragio.
c 2
2o RINALDO D'AQUINO
XI
Giammai non mi conforto
ne mi voglio rallegrare,
le navi son giunte al porto,
e vogliono collare;
vassene la piCi gente
in terra d' oltremare,
ed io lassa dolente,
come deg' io fare?
Vassen' ' in altra contrata,
e nol mi manda a dire;
ed io rimangno ingannata,
tanti son li sospire,
che mi fanno gran guerra
la notte co la dia;
<e> ne in cielo ne in terra
non mi par ch' io sia.
Santus, Santus Deo
che 'n la virgen venisti,
tu salva [e guarda] 1' amor meo
poi[che] da me '1 dipartisti.
Oi alta potestate
temuta e dottata,
il dolce mio amore
ti sia racomandata.
La croce salva la gente,
e me face disviare;
la croce mi fa dolente,
non mi val Dio pregare.
Oi me, croce pellegrina,
perche m' ai cosi distrutta?
1 qy. Vassi.
RINALDO D' AQUINO 21
Oi me lassa tapina,
ch' i' ardo e 'nciendo tutta.
Lo 'mperador con pace
tutto '1 mondo mantiene,
ed a me guerra face,
[che] m' a tolta la mia spene.
Oi alta potestade,
temuta e (ri)dottata,
lo mio dolce amore
vi sia racomandata.
Quando la croce pigliao,
cierto nol mi pensai —
quel che tanto m' amao
ed io lui tanto amai,
ch' io ne fui battuta
e messa in presgioni,
e in cielata tenuta,
per la vita mia.
Le navi sono alle colle,
in bonora possano andare,
e '1 mio amor con elle,
e la gente che va andare.
Padre criatore,
a santo porto le conduce
che vanno a servidore
de la santa croce.
Pero ti prego, Dolcietto,
che sai la pena mia,
che men faci un sonetto
e mandilo in Soria.
Ch' io nom posso abentare
notte ne dia ;
22 RINALDO D' AQUINO
in terra d' oltremare
ista la vita mia.
(V.R.V. Mon. etc.)
XII
In gioi' mi tengo tutta la mia pena,
e contolami in gran buona ventura;
si com Parisgi quando amava Elena,
cosi fac' io membrando per ongnura,
non cura lo meo cor s' a pene
membrando [la] gioia che vene,
quando piu dole, ed ella [piu] e dura.
Null' omo credo c' ami lealmente
che tema pene inver sua donna c' ama ,
amante (egli) e che ama falsamente
quandunque vede un poco e que' piu brama,
e chiama tutta via mercede,
e giammai non si crede
c' amor conosca il male c' altrui inflama.
Perb la tegno grande scanoscienza,
chi rimproccia al amore i suoi tormente ;
che non e gioi' che si vien da incredenza
ne per forza di pene c' altrui sente.
Non mente a quelli che son suoi,
anzi li dona gioi'
come fa buon singnore a suo servente.
Dunque, madonna, ben faccio ragione,
s' io vi conto le pene che patia,
ancor ch' i' aggio avuto guiderdone,
della piu ricca gioia ch' 'n voi sia.
Voria, bella, a poco a poco
con voi rintrare in giuoco,
com' io son vostro e voi madonna mia.
RINALDO D'AQUINO 23
Or ti rimembri, bella, a quello punto
ched io ti presi ad amare coragio;
dapoi che gravemente m' aggi punto,
tutta la pena ben mi par ch' i' aggio.
Ben agio amor e vo' servire,
e tragiendo martire
e non cangiar per nulla gioia c' agio.
(V.R.V. Tr.)
XIII
Amorosa donna fina,
Stella che levi la dia
sembran le vostre bellezze.
Sovrana fior di Messina,
nom pare che donna sia
vostra para d' adornezze.
Or dunqua non e maraviglia
se fiamma d' amor mi piglia,
guardando lo vostro viso,
che 1' amor m' in fiamma in foco
sol ch' i' vi riguardo un poco ;
levatemi gioco e riso.
Gioco e riso mi levate
membrando tutta stagione
che d' amor vi fui servente.
Ne della vostr' amistate
non ebbi anche guiderdone
se no un bascio solamente.
E quel bascio m' infiamao
che dal corpo mi levao
lo core e di' ello a voi.
Degiateci provedere,
che vita pub 1' omo avere
se lo cor non e con lui ?
24 RINALDO D'AQUINO
Lo meo cor non e co meco,
ched io tutto lo v' ho dato,
e ne son rimasto in pene ;
di sospiri mi notrico,
membrando da voi son errato
e nom so perche m' avene ;
per li (ri)sguardi amorosi
che savete sono ascosi
quando mi tenete mente ;
che li sg(uard)i micidiali
voi facete tanti e tali
che aucidete la giente.
Altrui aucidete che meve,
che m' avete im foco miso
che d' ongne parte m' aluma.
Tutto esto mondo e di neve,
di tal foco son racceso
che me ne (tutto) consuma,
e con foco che non pare
che la neve fa allumare,
ed inciendo tra lo ghiaccio;
quell' e lo foco d' amore,
c' arde lo fino amadore
quando ei non ha(ve) sollaccio.
Se '1 sollaccio non avesse,
se non da voi la sembiante
con parlamento sguardare
la gran gioi' quando volesse;
perche porto pene tante
ch' io no le poria contare
ne di ' null' omo che sia
la mia voglia non diria,
1 qy. ned a.
RINALDO D'AQUINO 25
dovesse morir penando ;
se non este u montellese,
cib e '1 vostro serventese,
a voi lo dico in cantando.
V.R.V.)
GIACOMINO PUGLIESE
XIV
Morte, perche m' ai fatta si gran guerra
che m' ai tolta madonna, ond' io mi dolglio?
la flor de le bellezze e morta in terra
perche lo mondo non amo ne volglio.
Villana morte, che non ai pietanza,
disparti amore e tolgli la allegranza
e dai cordoglio ;
la mia allegranza ai posta in gran tristanza,
che m' ai tolto la gioia e 1' allegranza
c' avere soglio.
Solea aver sollazzo e gioco e riso
piu che null' altro cavalier che sia ;
or n' e gita madonna im paradiso ;
portonne la dolce speranza mia,
lasciommi in pene e con sospiri e pianti,
levommi da lo dolze gioco e canti,
e compangnia.
Or non la veggio, ne la sto davanti,
e non mi mostra li dolzi sembianti,
come solia.
Ov' e madonna e lo suo insegnamento,
la sua bellezza e la gran canoscienza,
lo dolze riso e lo bel parlamento,
gli occhi e la bocca e la bella sembianza ?
26 GIACOMINO PUGLIESE
Oime, sia in nulla parte cib m' e aviso ;
madonna, chi lo tiene, lo tuo viso,
in sua ballia?
lo vostro insengnamento dond' e miso?
e lo tuo franco cor chi mi 1' a priso,
(ma)donna mia?
Oi Deo, perche m' ai posto in tale stanza?
ch' io son smarato e non so ove mi sia,
che m' ai levato la dolze speranza,
partita la piu dolze compangnia,
lo adornamento e la sua cortesia.
Madonna, per cui stava tuttavia
in allegranza,
or non la vegio ne notte ne dia,
e non m' abella, si com far solia,
la sua sembianza.
Se fosse mio '1 reame d' Ungaria,
con Grezia e la Mangna infino in Franza,
lo gran tesoro di Santa Sofia,
non poria ristorar si gran perdanza
come fu in quella dia che si n' andao
madonna, e d' esta vita trapassao
con gran tristanza;
sospiri e pene e pianti mi lasciao,
e giammai nulla gioia mi mandao
per confortanza.
Se fosse al mio voler, donna, di voi,
diciesse a Dio sovran che tutto facie
che notte e giorno istessimo ambondoi.
Or sia il voler di Dio, da ch' a lui piace.
Membro e ricordo quand' era con meco
sovente m' apellava dolze amico,
ed or nol facie.
GIACOMINO PUGLIESE 27
Poi Dio la prese e menolla con seco,
la sua vertute sia, bella, con teco,
e la sua pacie.
(V.R.V. Nan. Mon.)
XV
Ispendiente Stella d' albore
e piagiente donna d' amore,
bella, lo core mio c' ai 'n tua ballia
da voi non si diparte in (non)fidanza.
Or ti rimembra, bella, quella dia
che noi fermammo la dolze amanza.
Bella, or ti sia in rimembranza
la dolze dia e 1' allegranza,
che in diportanza io stava con voi ;
basciando mi dicei : Anima mia,
lo dolze amore ch' e intra noi dui
non falsasse per cosa che sia.
Lo tuo splendore m' a si preso,
di gioia d' amore m' a conquiso
si, che non mi so da voi dipartire,
e non faria, se Dio lo volesse.
Ben mi poria adoblar li martire,
se fallimento 'nver voi faciesse.
Donna valente, la mia vita
per voi, piagente, e ismarrita,
se non la aita fosse e lo comforto,
membrando ch' ei te, bella, a lo mio brazo
<?alor) quando sciendesti a me in diporto
per la finestra de lo palazo.
Alor t' ei, bella, in mia balia,
rosa novella per me tenia ;
28 GIACOMINO PUGLIESE
di voi presi amorosa vegianza.
O, in fide, rosa, fosti patuta ;
se 'n mia balia avesse Spangna e Franza,
non averei si rica tenuta.
Ch' io mi partia da voi, intando
diciavatemi sospirando :
'Se vai, meo sire, e fai dimoranza,
ve! ch' io m' arendo e faccio altra vita ;
giamai non entro in gioco ne in danza,
ma sto richiusa piii che romita.'
Or vi sia a mente, donna mia,
ch' entrava giente, v' ha 'm balia ;
di me vi sia, bella, rimembranza.
Tu sai, amore, le pene ch' io trasse ;
chi ne diparte mora (egli) in tristanza :
lo vostro core (mai) non falsasse.
Chi ne diparte, fior di rosa,
non abbia parte im bona cosa;
che Deo fecie 1' amore dolcie e fino
di due amanti che s' amar di core,
assai (ver e, si) canta Giacomino,
reo e chi sparte (? lo fino) amore.
(V.R.V. Mon.j
XVI
Tuttor la dolze speranza
di voi, donna, mi comforta,
membrando la tua semblanza;
tant' e la gioia che mi porta,
che nulla pena mi pare sofrire ;
e cotanto lo dolzore
ca lo core
GIACOMINO PUGLIESE 29
tuttora mi fa sbaldire.
Non pensai, dolze amore,
c' a null' ore
dovessi da me partire.
Madonna dolcie e piagiente,
la vostra gran canoscienza
non falli si grevemente
c' abassi vostra valenza.
S' abandonassi cid che hai conquiso,
perderia lo grande pregio,
e 'n dispregio
vostro (onor) e (tutto) miso.
Post' ho, donna, ('1 mio desio)
(quando vegio)
si alto amore disceso.
Oi bella dolzetta mia,
non far si gran fallimento,
di creder a giente ria
de lor falso parlamento.
Le lor parole sono viva lanza
che li cori van pungendo
e diciendo
per mala ! indivinanza.
Donna, merze, ch' io 'nciendo
(si) veggendo
dispartire dolze amanza.
Donna, se me non vuoi 'ntendere
non mi fare si gran fallia;
lo mio cor mi degie rendere,
ch' e distretto in vostra ballia ;
che grande perdanza di me saria,
perdere lo cor e voi
ambedui.
1 qy. malvagia.
3o G1AC0MIN0 PUGLIESE
Bella, per voi non si sia,
lo dolcie amore che fui
fra noi dui
nom falli, (ma)donna mia.
Donna, se 'nver me falsassi
bello sacco1 tanto fino
che vostro amor s' inabassi,
di voi diria Giacomino
che vostra usanza sia spessamente
che t' infinga d' amar, poi
pare a noi
trezeria (esser) parvente.
Donna, merze, cib non fare;
in fallare
non agie core ne mente.
COMPAGNETTO DA PRATO
XVII
( Per lo marito c' 6 rio
1' amor m' e 'ntrato 'n coraggio ;
sollazo e gram bene agg' io
per lo mal che con lui aggio.
Che per lo suo lacierare —
tal pensero, O ! no 1' avea —
che sono preso d' amare,
fino amante aggio in balia
che mi fa 'n gran gioia stare.
Gieloso, batuta m' ai,
piacieti di darmi doglia;
ma quanto pi ft mal mi fai
tanto piCi '1 mi metti in voglia.
1 qy. ben lo saccio.
(V.R.V.)
COMPAGNETTO DA PRATO 31
Di tal uom m' acasgionasti
c' amanza non avea 'ntra noi ;
ma da che mi ricordasti
l'amor mi prese di lui.
Lo tuo danagio pensasti.
Mio amor mi mette a rasgione,
[e] dicie, s' io 1' amo a cor fino,
pero che m' abe a casgione
ch' era nel male dimino?
Per ira del mal marito
m' avesti e non per amore;
ma da che m' ai, si m' e gito
lo tuo dolzor dentro al core ;
mio male in gioia m' e ridito.
Drudo mio, a te mi richiamo
d' una vecchia c' 6 a vicina;
ch' ella, s' e accorta ch' io t' amo,
del suo mal dir non rifina.
Con [molto] adiroso talento
m' ave di te gastigata,
mettemi a maggior tormento
che quel cui son maritata,
non mi lascia aver abento.'
' Madonna, per lo tuo onore,
a. nulla vecchia non credere;
ch' elle in guerra anno 1' amore,
perc' altri loro non credere.
Le vecchie son mala giente,
non ti lascia dismagare ;
che '1 nostro amor fino e giente
per lor nom possa falzare ;
Mettale Dio im foco arzente.'
32 COMPAGNETTO DA PRATO
La bella dicie : ' Pardeo,
giurolti per mia leanza,
che non e cosa perch' eo
lasciasie la tu' amistanza.
Ma perch' io mi ti lamento
d' una mia desaventura,
non aver tu pensamento
che d' altr' amor agie cura,
se non far tuo piacimento.'
(V.R.V. Mon.)
JACOPO D'AQUINO
XVIII
Al cor m' e nato e prende uno disio
d' una che m' a si lungiamente priso
e si mi stringe forte, che non crio
che d' altro amor mi piaccia gioia ne riso.
Vaio ne griso,
ne nulla gioia che sia,
io non voria ;
ne singnoria,
ma tuttavia
vedere lo bel viso.
Cosi m' afina amore, che m' a tolto
core e disio e tutta la mia mente;
e d' altra donna amar non sono accorto
che tanto sia amorosa ne piacente.
Non m' e neente
sed io son d' altra amato
o disiato,
bello provato,
mentr' io son stato
Ionian della piu giente.
JACOPO D'AQUINO 33
Ancor ch' io sia lontano in altra parte
lavunqu' io vada il suo amor mi mantiene,
e giamai dal mio core non si parte,
ne altra donna amar non mi sovene.
Percio m' avene,
ca s' io songno la veio,
dormo e donneio,
vegliar mi crio,
ma non disio
d' aver null' altro bene.
Membrandomi la sua ciera piagiente
veder la creo tutta per sembiante,
com omo c' a lo specchiar tene mente ;
cosi mi pare ch' io 1' agia davanti.
Poi sono tanti
li sospiri, membrando,
pure aspettando
e disiando
di veder quando
io 1' agia davanti.
(V.R.V. Tr.)
TOMASO DI SASSO DI MESSINA
XIX
D' amoroso paeso
sospiri [e dolzi pianti] m' a mandato
amor, che m' a. donato [ad una] donna amare.
[Giajmai senza sospirare
amore me non lascia solo un' ora.
Deo, che folle natura ! ella m' a. preso
ch' io non saccio altro fare,
se non pensare, e quanto piu mi sforzo
34 TOMASO DI SASSO DI MESSINA
allora meno posso avere abento ;
e uscito m' e di mente
gia lungiamente ogni altro pensamento,
e si veglio o dormento sento amore.
Amore sento tanto,
donna, c' altro nom faccia,
son divenuto paccio troppo amando;
moro considerando
che sia amore che tanto m' allaccia.
Non trovo chi lo saccia, ond' io mi schianto,
ch' e vicino di morte,
crudele sorte, mal che non a nomo ;
che mai non lo pote omo ben guarire ' ;
dunque pur voria dire
come sentire amor mi fa tormento;
forse per mio lamento lo mi lascia.
Amor mi facie [umile ed] umano,
crucioso e sollazante,
e per mia volglia amante amor negando;
e medica piagando2
amore, che nel mare tempestoso
navica vigoroso, e ne lo chiano
teme la tempestate.
Folli, sacciate finche 1' amadore
disia, vive 'n dolore3, e poi che tene
credendosi aver bene,
dagli amor pene sperando aver gioia,
la gielosia e la noia che 1' asale.
Amor mi fa fellone,
sfacciato e vergongnoso;
quanto piu son dolglioso alegro paro
e nom posso esser varo.
1 gucr . . . , V.R.V. - pieg . . . , V. R.V. * qy. dolzorc.
TOMASO DI SASSO DI MESSINA 35
Da poi che cristallo avene la neve
squalgliare mai non deve, per rasgione;
cosi eo, che no rifino,
son poco mino divenuto, amore.
Agua per gran dimoro torna sale ;
cotal dolglia mortale,
gravoso male, da meve stesso e nato,
che non agio nul lato che non ami.
Poi ch' io si lungiamente
agio amato, giamai no rifinai,
tardi mi risvelgliai a disamare;
che non si pu6 astutare
cosi sanza fatica uno gran foco,
ma si consuma '1 foco per neiente.
Dunqua como faraggio ?
Bene ameraggio, ma [bene] saver voria
che fera singnoria mi face amare,
che gran follia mi pare
omo inorare a si folle singnore,
c' a lo suo servidore non si mostra.
(V.R.V. Nan.)
GIUDICE GUIDO DE LE COLONNE DI
MESSINA
XX
Amor, che lungiamente m' ai menato
a freno stretto sanza riposanza,
alarga le tue redine in pietanza,
che soperchianza m' a vinto e stancato ;
c' 6 piu durato ch' io non b possanza
per voi, madonna, a cui porto leanza,
D 2
36 GIUDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA
piu che non fa assessino a suo cuitato,
che si lascia morir per sua credanza.
Ben este affanno dilettoso amare,
e dolce pena ben si pub chiamare ;
ma voi, madonna, della mia travaglia,
cosi mi squaglia, prenda voi mercede,
che ben' e dolce il mal, se non m' ancide.
Oi dolce ciera con sguardo soave,
piu bella d' altra che sia in vostra terra,
traete lo mio core ormai di guerra,
che per voi erra e gran travaglia n' ave;
che si gran trave poco ferro serra,
e poca pioggia grande vento atterra.
Perb, madonna, non v' incresca o grave
s' amor vi sforza, c' ogni cosa inferra,
che certo non gli e troppo disonore
quand' omo e vinto d' uno suo migliore,
e tanto piu d' amor che vince tutto.
Percib non dotto c' amor non vi smova;
saggio guerrero vince guerra e prova.
Non dico c' a la vostra gran bellezza
orgoglio non convenga e steavi bene;
c' a bella donna orgoglio ben convene,
che si mantiene in presgio ed in grandezza ;
troppa alterezza e quella che sconvene,
di grande orgoglio mai ben non avvene.
Dunque, madonna, la vostra durezza
convertasi in pietanza e si raffrene;
non si distenda tanto che mi pera.
Lo sol sta alto e face la lumera
piu viva, quanto in alto ha a passare ;
vostro orgogliare dunque e vostra altezza
facciami pro e tornimi in dolcezza.
GIUDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA 37
F allumo dentro e forz' e far sembianza
di non mostrar cio che lo mio cor sente;
oi, quanto e dura pena al cor dolente
istar taciente e non far dimostranza !
che la pesanza a la cera consente,
e fanno vista di lor portamenti.
Cosi son volontieri in acordanza
gli occhi co lo core insembramente.
Forza di senno e quella che soverchia
ardir di core e asconda ed incoverchia ;
ben e gran senno, chi lo pote fare,
saper celare, ed essersi sengnore
de lo suo core, quand' este in errore.
Amor fa disviare li piu saggi,
e chi piu ama meno a. in se misura ;
piu folle e quello che piu s'innamora.
Amor non cura di far suoi dannaggi,
che li coraggi mette in tal calura
ch' uom non pub raffredare per fredura ;
gli occhi al core sono gli messaggi
del suo cominciamento per natura.
Dunque, madonna, gli occhi e lo mio core
avete in vostra man dentro e di fore;
c' amor mi smena e il vivere combatte
com vento batte nave e smena in onda ;
voi siete il mio pennel che non afonda.
XXI
Ancor che 1' aigua per lo foco lasse
la sua grande freddura,
non cangerea natura
s' alcun vasello in mezzo non vi stasse;
anzi averrea senza lunga dimora
38 GIUDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA
che lo foco astutasse
o che 1' aigua seccasse,
ma per lo mezzo 1' uno e 1' altro dura.
Cosi, gentil creatura,
in me ha mostrato amore
1' ardente suo valore,
che senza amore era aigua fredda e ghiaccia ;
ma el m' a si allumato
di foco che m' abraccia,
ch' eo fora consumato
se voi, donna sovrana,
non foste voi mezana
infra 1' amore e meve,
che fa lo foco nascere di neve.
Imagine di neve si pud dire
om che non a sentore
d' amoroso calore;
ancor sia vivo non si sa sbaldire.
Amor e uno spirito d' ardore
che non si puo vedire,
ma sol per li sospire
si fa sentire in quel ch' e amadore.
Cosi, donna d' aunore,
lo mio gran sospirare
vi poria certa fare
dell' amorosa fiamma ond' eo son involto;
e non so come eo duro,
si m' ave preso e tolto;
e parmi esser sicuro
che molti altri amanti
per amor tutti quanti
sono perduti e morti ;
e non amar quant' eo ne si forte.
GIUDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA 39
Eo v' amo tanto, che mille fiate
lo giorno mi s' aranca
lo spirito che manca,
pensando, donna, la vostra beltate ;
e lo disio ch' eo ho lo cor m' abranca,
crescemi volontate,
mettemi 'n tempestate,
de lo grande pensier che mai non stanca.
O colorita e bianca
e gioia de lo mio bene,
speranza mi mantene,
e s' eo lenguisco, non posso morire ;
che mentre viva sete
eo non poria fallire,
anco che fame e sete
lo meo corpo tormenti ;
ma sol ch' io tegna a mente
vostra gaia persona,
oblio la morte, tal forza mi dona.
Eo non credo che sia quel ch' avia
lo spirito che porto,
ched eo fora gia morto,
tant' 6 passato male tuttavia.
Lo spirito ch' i' agio, ond' eo mi sporto,
credo la vostra sia,
che nel mio petto stia,
e abiti meco in gran gioi' e diporto.
Or mi son bene accarto,
quando da voi mi venni,
che quando 'n mente tenni
vostro amoroso viso netto e chiaro,
li vostri occhi piagenti
allora m' addobraro,
4o G1UDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA
che 'n mi tennero mente,
e diedermi nascoso
uno spirto amoroso
c' assai mi fa piu amare
che non amo null' altra, cib mi pare.
La calamita, contano i saccenti,
che trare non poria
ferro per maestria,
se non che V aire in mezzo lei consenti ;
ancor che calamita petra sia,
1' altre petre neenti
non son cosi potenti
a trajer, perche non n' anno balia.
Cosi, madonna mia,
P amor s' e apperceputo
che non m' avria potuto
traer a se, se non fusse per voi.
E si son donne assai,
ma non ulla per cui
eo mi movesse mai,
se non per voi, piagente,
in cui e fermamente
la forza e la virtute;
adonqua prego P amor che m' aiuti.
(Mon. Nan.)
XXII
Poi non mi val merce ne ben servire
inver madonna, in cui tengno speranza,
ed amo lealmente,
non so che cosa mi poria valere ;
se di me non le prende pietanza,
ben morrb certamente.
Per neente mi cangio '1 suo talento,
GIUDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA 41
ond' 6 tormento e vivo in gran dottanza,
e son di molte pene sofferente.
Poi sofferente sono al suo piacere,
di bon cor 1' amo e di pura leanza,
e servo umilemente;
perche meglio m' e per ella male avere
che per un' altra bene con baldanza,
tanto [le] son ubidente.
Ardente son di far suo piacimento,
nk mai n' 6 abento d' aver sua membranza
in quella in cui disio spessamente.
Ispessamente disio e son al perire,
membrando che m' a messo in ubrianza
1' amorosa piagiente.
Sanza misfatto nom dovea punire,
ne far partenza della nostra amanza,
per tanto e canosciente,
Temente son, non ho comfortamento,
poi valimento nom da, ma pesanza,
e fallami di tutto suo convento.
Convento ben mi fece di valere,
e donommi una gioia per rimembranza,
ch' i' stesse allegramente ;
or la m' a tolta per troppo savere,
dice ch' in altra parte 6 mia 'ntendanza.
Io so veracemente
non sente lo mio core fallimento,
non 6 talento di far misleanza
inver di voi per altra al mio vivente.
Vivente donna non creo che partire
potesse lo mio cor di sua possanza,
non fosse si avenente,
42 GIUDICE GUI DO DI MESSINA
perch' io lasciar volesse d' ubidire
quella che presgio e belleze inavanza;
fa mi stare sovente
la mente d' amoroso pensamento.
Non agio abento, tanto '1 cor mi lanza
co li riguardi degli occhi ridente.
(V.R.V. Nan.)
XXIII
Gioiosamente canto,
e vivo in allegranza,
ca per la vostra amanza,
madonna, gran gioia sento ;
s' eo travagliai cotanto
or' agio riposanza,
ben agia disianza,
che vene a compimento ;
ca tutto mal talento torna in gioi'
quandunque la speranza vien dipoi,
ond' io m' allegro di grande ardimento;
un giorno viene che val pin di cento.
Ben passa rosa e fiore
la vostra fresca cera
luciente pin che spera,
e la bocca aulitosa
piu rende aulente aulore
che non fa una fera
c' a nome la pantera,
che 'n India nasce ed usa.
Sovra ogn' altr' amorusa mi parete
fontana, che m' a tolta ognunque sete,
perch' io son vostro piu leale e fino
che non e al suo singnore 1' assessino.
GIUDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA 43
Come fontana piena,
che spande tutta quanta,
cosi lo mio cor canta
si fortemente e abonda
de la gran gioia che mena,
per voi, madonna, tanta
ch' e eiertamente tanta ;
non e dove s' asconda,
e piu c' augello in fronda son gioioso,
e ben posso cantar piii amoroso
che non canta giamai null' altro amante,
uso di bene amare 6 trapassante.
Ben mi degio allegrare
d' amor che 'mprimamente
ristrinse la mia mente
d' amar voi, donna fina ;
ma piu degio laudare
voi, donna canosciente,
donde lo mio cor sente
la gioia ch' in voi non fina.
Ca se tutta Messina fosse mia,
senza voi, donna, nente mi faria;
quando con voi a sol mi sto, avenente,
ogn' altra gioia mi par che sia neiente.
La vostra gran beltate
m' a fatto, donna, amare,
e lo vostro ben fare
m' a fatto cantadore ;
ca s' eo canto la state
quando la fiore appare,
nom poria ubriare
cantar a la fredore.
44 GIUDICE GUIDO DI MESSINA
Cosl mi tene amore lo cor gaudente,
che voi sete la mia donna valente;
sollazzo e gioco mai non vene mino,
cosl v' adoro come servo inchino.
(V.R.V. Nan.)
MAZZEO DI RICO DI MESSINA
XXIV
Lo gran valor e lo pregio amoroso
ch' e in voi, donna valente,
tuttor m' aluma d' amoroso foco
che mi dispera e fami pauroso,
com' om che da neiente
volesse pervenire in alto loco.
Ma s' egli e destinato
moltipricar lo folle pensamento,
e la ventura gli da piacimento
dello gran bene c' a desiderato.
Cosl pensando a la vostra beltate
amor mi fa paura,
tanto siete alta e gaia ed avenente,
e tanto piu che voi mi disdegnate.
Ma questo m' asicura,
che dentro 1' agua nasce foco arzente,
e par contra natura.
Cosl poria la vostra disdegnanza
tornar in amorosa pietanza,
se '1 volesse la mia bona ventura.
Madonna, se del vostro amor son priso
non vi paia fereze
ne riprendete gli occhi inamorati.
Guardate lo vostro amoroso viso,
le angeliche belleze,
MAZZEO DI RICO DI MESSINA 45
e P adorneze e la vostra beltate ;
e sarete sicura
che le vostre belleze mi convita
per forza, come fa la calamita
quando 1' aguglia tira per natura.
Certo ben fece amore dispietanza,
che di voi, donna altera,
m' inamorai, poi non v' e in piacimento.
Or come troveraggio in voi pietanza?
che non vegio manera
com' io vi posso dire cib ch' io sento.
Perb, donna avenente,
per Dio vi priego, quando mi vedete
guardatemi, cosi conoscierete
per la mia ciera cib che mio cor sente.
Si namoratamente m' a infiammato
la vostra diletanza,
ch' io non mi credo giamai snamorare;
che lo cristallo poich' e ben gielato
non pub aver speranza
ch' ello potesse neve ritornare.
E poich' amor m' a dato
(interamente) in vostra potestate,
(donna,) agiatene alcuna pietate,
accioch' agiate in voi tutto valore.
(V.R.V. Mon. Val.)
XXV
Sei anni b travagliato
in voi, madonna, amare,
e fede v' b portato
piu assai che divisare
46 MAZZEO DI RICO DI MESSINA
ne dire vi poria.
Ben b caro acatato
lo vostro inamorare,
che m' a cosi inganato
con suo dolce parlare
che gia nol mi credia.
Ben mi men6 follia
di fantin veramente,
che crede fermamente
pigliar lo sol nell' agua splendiente,
e stringere si crede lo splendore
della candela ardente ;
ond' ello immantenente
si parte e piange, sentendo 1' ardore.
S' eo tardi mi son adato
de lo meo follegiare,
tengnomene beato,
poi ch' io sono a lasciare
lo mal che mi stringia;
che 1' omo ch' e malato,
poiche torna in sanare,
lo male c' a passato
e lo gran travagliare
tutto mette in obria.
Oi lasso, ch' io credia,
donna, perfettamente
che vostri assetamenti
passassero giacinti stralucenti;
or veggio bene che '1 vostro colore
di vetro e fermamente,
che fanno sagiamente
li mastri contrafare alio lavore.
MAZZEO DI RICO DI MESSINA 47
Isperanza m' a 'nganato,
e fatto tanto errare,
com' omo c' a giucato
e crede guadagnare
e perde cio c' avia.
Or veggio ch' e provato
cio c' audo contare,
c' assai a. guadagnato
chi si fa scompagnare
da mala compagnia.
A meve adivenia
como avene sovente,
chi impronta buonamente
lo suo a mal debitor e scanoscente ;
impercio ch' e malvagio pagatore
vaci omo spessamente
e nom pub aver neiente,
ond' a la fine ne fa richiamore.
(V.R.V. Val.)
PREZIVALLE DORIA (?)
XXVI
Come lo giorno, quando e dal maitino,
chiaro e sereno e bello e da vedere,
perche gli ausgielli fanno lor latino
cantare fino, e par dolze a udire ;
e poi ver mezzo il giorno cangia e muta,
e torna in piogia la dolze veduta
che si mostrava,
lo pellegrino, che sicuro andava
per 1' allegreza dello giorno bello,
diventa fello, pieno di pesanza ;
cosi m' a fatto amor con sua possanza.
48 PREZIVALLE DORIA
Cosi m' a fatto amor certanamente,
ca 'mprimamente d' amor mi mostrava
sollazzo e tutto ben de la piu giente,
poi per neiente lo cor mi cangiava ;
ch' io mi credea laudar tutta mia vita,
avere grande ben di sua partita,
e stare baldo;
quella che avanza giacinto e smeraldo,
ed ave le belleze ond' io disvio;
or sento e veio che gran follia lo tira,
chi lauda il giorno avanti che sia sera.
Per voi, madonna, con tante belleze
senza fereze lo mio cor sotrasse,
e si m* a preso e tene V adorneze,
vostre belleze, che '1 mio core atrasse.
Perche mi siete fatta si orgolgliosa,
oi, gientil donna bene aventurosa,
se (ben) pensate
come s' avene a donna in veritate,
mostrare amore, e mettere in errore
lo suo servente e si fedele amante ?
Tu doni e tolli come fa lo fante.
(V.R.V. Nan.)
FOLCALCHIERI DI SIENA
XXVII
Tutto lo mondo vive sanza guerra,
ed io nom pace aver posso neiente.
O Deo, como faraggio?
O Deo, como sostenemi la terra ?
E' par ch' io viva in noia de la gente ;
ogn' omo m' e salvagio.
FOLCALCHIERI DI SIENA 49
Nom paiono li fiori
per me, com gia. soleano,
e gli auscielli per am ore
dolzi versi faceano agli albori.
E quand' eo vegio gli altri cavalieri
arme portare, e d' amore parlando,
ed io tutto mi dolglio;
sollazzo m' e fallito ne' pensieri ;
la gente mi riguardano parlando
s' io son quel ch' esser solglic.
Nom so cio ch' io mi sia,
ne so perche m' avene;
mort' e la vita mia,
tomato m' e lo bene (nel) dolori.
Ben credo ch' eo fenisco e non conenza
e lo meo male nom poria contare
ne le pene ch' io sento.
Li drappi d' investire non m' agenza
ne bono non mi sa lo manicare,
cosi vivo in tormento.
Non mi so onde fugire,
ne a cui m' acomandare;
convenemi sofrire, *
tutte le pene amare 6 in dolzori.
Io credo bene che 1' amore sia;
altro deo non m' a. gia a giudicare
cosi crudelemente
che 1' amor e di tale sengnoria
che le due parti a se vole tirare,
e '1 terzo e de la giente.
Ed io per ben servire,
s' io ragione trovasse,
non doveria fallire
So FOLCALCHIERI DI SIENA
a lui, cosl chiamasse per lo cori :
Dolce madonna, poi ch' io mi moragio
niun troverai si bene ti servire,
tutt' a tua volontate ;
ch* unque non volli ne voglio ne voraggio,
se non di tutto [a] far a (far) piaciere
a la vostra amistate.
Merze di me vi prenda,
che non mi sfidi amando ;
vostra grazia discenda,
perb oh' eo ardo e inciendo, (non) da fori.
(V.R.V. Nan. Mon.)
TIBERTO GALLIZIANI DI PISA
XXVIII
Biasmomi dell' amore
che mi dona ardimento
d' amar si fina amanza ;
di dire 6 tal timore
che sol di pensamento
mi trovo in disvianza;
ma s' eo faccio acordanza
di dire, e poi mi scordo,
tanto infra me mi stordo
per la gran dubitanza;
perd faccio sembianza
al core che sia sordo
che mi dice, e m' accordo
che dimandi pietanza.
Ma tutto cib mi mente,
che 'ntenda in tal parlare,
che 1' altro cor m' intenza,
e dice : Oi me dolente !
TIBERTO GALLIZIANI DI PISA 51
nom puoi tanto durare
che vinche per sofrenza.
Se fai di me partenza
da lo suo bel piaciere,
gia mai non poria avere
gioia, ma pur doglienza;
che tanto a di valenza,
ca melglio m' e sofrire
le pene e li martiri
che 'nver lei far fallenza.
Cosi amor m' a miso
in due contenzione;
ciascuna m' e guerera;
nell' una m' adiviso
di dire mia ragione, t'
e 1' altra mi par fera.
Ma s' i' faccio preghera,
di lei merze pensando —
ca eo no le dimando,
perch' ell' e tanto altera.
Perb in tale manera
d' amor mi vo blasmando,
ca si mi stringe amando,
dottando ch' io nom pera.
Ben v' amo follemente
s' io pero per dottanza
di dir lo meo penare;
e moro certamente
s' io faccio piu tardanza
tante pene a portare.
C amor nom vol mostrare
le pene ch' io tant' agio
E 2
52 TIBERTO GALLIZIANI DI PISA
a ella per cui moragio
tuttor per lei amare;
ond' eo mi volglio provare
di dirle 1' amor ch' agio
a lo suo sengnoragio,
e nol vo piu cielare.
Per6 mi torno a vui,
piagiente creatura,
ch' io sia per voi intiso ;
che gia. nom posso plui
sofrir la pena dura
d' amor, che m' a conquiso
S' eo perd son mispreso,
1' amore d' el biasmate,
e le vostre bieltate
che m' a d' amor si priso.
Mercie, piagiente viso,
prenda a voi pietate
di meve, e non mostrate
ch' io sia da voi diviso.
Cierto, madonna mia,
ben seria convenenza
c' amore voi stringnesse,
che tanto par che sia
in voi plena plasenza
ch' ella renda manchesse.
Perb se voi tenesse
amor distrettamente
ben so che doblamente
varrian vostre bellesse ;
ed anco a vostre altesse
blasmo saria parvente,
TIBERTO GALLIZIANI DI PISA 53
(V.R.V. Mon.)
poi siete si piagiente,
s' amor in voi fallisse.
XXIX
Gia lungiamente, amore,
son stato in mia balia,
e non curava d' altro sengnoragio ;
or sono in tal tenore
che gia. mai nom poria
partir, si m' a distretto il mio coragio, •
e lo suo bel visagio,
ch' e d' ongni bielta, sagio, m' infiamao,
e tutti gli altri pensier mi levao.
Le sue bellezze tante
che porta in viso, e mante,
tuttor s' adoblan, tant' an di plagienza,
mi fan piu (fino) amante,
che gioia paion le pene,
e piu d' amar mi cresce benvolenza,
di qu(ella) c' 6 temenza
di dir la mia volglienza, e voria dire,
perche giamai non ei tanto d' ardire.
Deo ! c' or avess' io tanto
d' ardire, ch' io contasse
le mie pene a la mia donna valente.
Forse averebbe alquanto
merce, ancor non m' amasse,
che per sembianti poria star gaudente';
e nolle steria giente,
poi ch' e di me temente, s' io morisse;
perch' io voria ch' ella mio mal savesse.
54 TIBERTO GALLIZIANI DI PISA
Oime, che dich' io folle?
or gia m' acolglie e inora,
ancor nol faccia d' amorosa intesa;
per tanto non mi stolle
lo sguardar ch' assicura,
e la speranza gia non m' e difesa
di quella bene apresa;
che d' amar e si accesa la mia mente,
ch' io nolle poria dir, ne star taciente.
E se lo taccio, pero,
e se dico, 6 dottanza,
non saccio s' a lei piacie o sia spiaciere;
ond' io merze le chero
che nol torni a pesanza,
perch' io voglio di morte guarentire;
che piu per suo servire
che gia d' altro volere n' 6 talento ;
perb s' io moro, ell' a lo perdimento.
GALLETTO DI PISA
XXX
Credea essere, lasso !
come quel che si parte
di ci6 che piu gli e danno;
or son condotto, lasso,
poco non ebbi parte.
Trapassat' e piu d' anno
come stei ad esser servo
di voi, donna, a cui servo
(V.R.V.)
GALLETTO DI PISA 55
di bon cor, ci6 m' e aviso.
Si siete adorna e giente,
fate stordir la giente
quando voi mira viso.
Ed eo ponendo mente
la vostra bella ciera,
ch' e bianca piu che riso,
feristemi alia mente,
ond' ardo piu che ciera;
levastemi lo riso.
Le man vostre e la gola
cogli occhi mi dan gola ;
tanto a veder s' io miro,
mostran che 1' altre membra
vaglian piu, ci6 mi membra
pur di tanto mi miro.
Volea veder, non pare
nessuna donna roma
quanto voi bella sia ;
non trovai vostra pare,
ciercato infino a Roma;
grazia e merze vi sia.
Le vostre bielta sole
che lucon piu che sole
m' anno d' am ore punto,
ch' io n' era sordo e muto ;
or me ne vesto e muto
e cantone ogni punto.
Lo meo cor non fa fallo,
se da me si diparte
e salesi in voi al pe ;
ma mio conforto fallo,
56 GALLETTO DI PISA
non e rn loco ne in parte
e come arcione in alpe
m' a piu legato e serra;
e poi mi talglia e serra,
e non vol ch' io sormonte.
Lo vostro amor che colpa
a meve sanza colpa
fa m' esser pian di monte.
Lo vostro amor mi cura,
di vano amor m' a mondo,
e son piu fermo e saggio
poi che misi in voi cura,
sovrana d' esto mondo
che d' amor siete saggio.
S' al vostro amor m' aresto,
assai piu sottil resto.
Si lega savio e matto :
di bella donna gallo,
como perdice gallo,
c' a ciascun ne do matto.
CV.R.V. Mon.)
LEONARDO DEL GUALLACO DI PISA
XXXI
Si come il pescio a nasso
ch' e preso a falsa parte
son quei c' amar s' adanno ;
peggior gittan che lasso.
Salamon che seppe arte
disse lo mal che danno;
al suo senno m' asservo,
con amor non conservo,
LEONARDO DEL GUALLACO DI PISA 57
che fe parlar d' aviso
lo profeta piagiente,
forse che 'nd' e piangiente
fora di paraviso.
Se lo scritto non mente,
da femina treciera
si fu Merlin diriso,
e Sanson malamente
tradilo una leciera ;
Troia strusse Pariso
per Alena pargola,
si che mai non a gola,
si la strusse 1' amiro.
Quando d' Eva mi membra
null' altr' al cor mi membra,
si la rompe mio smiro.
Chi vuol da lor campare,
tagli la lor paroma
ch' e piena di falsia,
che 'nfin che puo atrapare
allor puo dir c' a Roma
credi vogar 'n Asia.
Ed il percio lassole,
ciascun' e tal qual sole ;
esto senno no spunto
e non me ne rimuto
ne 'n versi ne rimuto :
sempre piu ci e propunto.
Chi s' inamora in fallo,
udit' 5 in sagia parte,
mant' a di male palpe ;
chi buon senn' a rio fallo
58 LEONARDO DEL GUALLACO DI PISA
e com ben si comparte,
vive come 'n mar salpe.
Foil' e che quivi serra,
che s' egli e 'n alta serra
uop' e c' a basso smonte.
Cui amor fer mal colpa,
tanto val c' a me scolpa
amore ; guai chi amonte.
La chiara aira fue scura
a giglio More ed asmondo,
lo lor detto falso agio,
e chi vi s' asicura
guardino a quei, c' al mondo
vedran d' amor lo saggio.
Serventes, a dir esto,
va, che per servo i' resto,
piii puro c' auro matto,
a quei c' a nom di Gallo ;
se Dio di mal tragallo,
non creda a vista matto.
Qual uomo e d' amor preso
arrivat' e a mal porto,
allor non e 'n sua baglia.
Dal terzoletto 6 apreso,
a sua guisa mi porto,
s' alcuna mi s' inbaglia.
Prendo del suo mestieri
quello che m' e mestieri,
e per altro non 1' amo;
per vista che mi faccia,
ne per bielta di faccia,
piu non abocco 1' amo.
(V.R.V. Mon.)
59
BETTO METTIFUCCO DI PISA
XXXII
Amore, perche m' ai
distretto a tal misura,
ch' io nom posso contare
ben le mie pene a cui mi fora in grado?
Ardir nom posso mai
di dir, tant' b paura,
cosi mi fa dottare
di perder quell' ond' io allegro vado.
Molt' 6 grande alegrezza
della dolze contezza
c' agio co 1' avenente,
che par le sia piagiente mia contanza ;
perb ne dotto forte,
che paura b di morte
che no la dispiacesse
s' io piu su le diciesse c' agio usanza.
Non veggio se non vengno
lo splendiente viso,
che sguarda con pietanza
e parla dolciemente con piaciere ;
tuttor con voi mi tengno
e non ne son diviso,
servendo in isperanza
son gaio e fresco e rafino in servire.
Ne lo meo pensamento
posso uscir di tormento
pensando a farvi onore,
donna di gran valore, e pienamente ;
60 BETTO METTIFUCCO DI PISA
che per lo vostro bene
mi pare uscir di pene,
cosi forte mi piacie —
piu che lo meo non facie, fermamente.
Dunqua como faragio ?
poi la mia malatia
non 1' auso adimostrare
a chi mi pud guerire e far gioioso.
Ben credo, ne moragio
di corto qualche dia,
e non credo campare,
se non m' aiuto, lo viso lazioso
per cui piango e sospiro
tuttor quando la smiro;
e dico inver di mei :
Lasso, perche colei amai io tanto ?
e poi riprendo il dire
c' 6 fatto, e dico : Oi Sire
Deo, cotal finita
faciesse la mia vita, e fora santo !
Madonna, penso forte
de la mia natura,
che passa 1' asesino
del velglio de la montagna disperato,
che per mettersi a morte
passa(sse) in aventura;
e gli cosi latino,
non gli e gravoso ch' egli e ingannato;
che '1 velglio a lo 'mprimero
lo tene in bel verdero,
[e] falli parer che sia
quel che fa notte e dia di bon core;
BETTO METTIFUCCO DI PISA 61
ma io ched 6 veduto
lo mondo, e conosciuto,
agio ferma credenza
che la vostra potenza sia maggiore.
S' eo sono inamorato
cosi in dismisuranza,
credo faro aquisto
due cose ond' io fallo e sono sagio ;
sagio son, che fermato
son senza dubitanza
la ove compose Cristo
belleze tante c' altrui fanno oltragio ;
che son si splendi'ente
ch' io nom posso neiente
contarle bene e dire,
che fa tutto avenire a chi la guarda ;
fallo, c' amo 1' altezza
somma di gientilezza,
al mio parer che sia,
in cui tutto m' avia arimembrando.
(V.R.V. Nan.)
ODO DELLE COLONNE DI MESSINA
XXXIII
Oi lassa namorata !
contar volglio la mia vita,
e dir ongne fiata
come 1' amor m' invita ;
ch' io son sanza pecata
d' assai pene guernita
62 ODO DELLE COLONNE DI MESSINA
per uno c' amo e volglio
e no 1' agio in mia balglia
si com' avere solglio;
perb pato travaglia
ed or mi mena orgolglio,
lo cor mi fende e talglia.
Oi lassa tapinella !
come 1' amor m' a prisa,
che lo suo amor m' apella
quello che m' a conquisa.
La sua persona bella
tolto m' a gioco e risa,
ed ami messa in pene
ed in tormenti forte.
Mai non credo aver bene
se non m' acorre morte ;
aspettola che vene,
tragami d' esta sorte.
Lassa, che mi dicea,
quando m' avea in cielato :
' Di te, o vita mea,
mi tengno piu pagato
ca s' i' avess' im ballia
lo mondo a sengnorato.'
Ed or m' a a disdengnanza,
e fa mi scanoscienza ;
par c' agia ei d' altra amanza ;
o Dio, chi lo m' intenza,
mora di mala lanza,
e sanza penitenza.
O ria ventura e fera !
tra mi d' esto penare ;
ODO DELLE COLONNE DI MESSINA 63
fa tosto ch' io nom pera,
se non mi dengna amare
lo meo sire, che m' era
dolze lo suo parlare,
ed ami namorata
di se oltre misura.
Or a lo cor cangiata,
saciate se m' e dura ;
si come disperata
mi metto a la ventura.
Va, canzonetta fina,
al buono aventuroso,
ferilo a la corina
se '1 truovi disdegnoso ;
nol ferir di rapina,
che sia troppo gravoso;
ma ferila chi '1 tene,
ancidela sen fallo ;
poi saccio c' a me vene
lo viso del cristallo
e sarb fuor di pene,
avro alegreza e gallo.
(V.R.V. Nan.)
RUGGIERONE DI PALERMO
XXXIV
Oi lasso ! nom pensai
si forte mi parisse
lo dipartire di madonna mia;
da poi che m' alontai
ben paria ch' io morisse,
membrando di sua dolze compangnia ;
64 RUGGIERONE HI PALERMO
e gia mai tanta pena non durai
se non quando a la nave adimorai,
ed or mi credo morir ciertamente
se da lei no ritorno prestamente.
Tutto quanto eo vio
si forte mi dispiacie
che non mi lascia in posa in nessun loco ;
si mi stringe [e] desio
che nom posso aver pacie,
e fa mi reo parere riso e gioco ;
membrandomi suo dolze sengnamente
tutt' i diporti m' escono di mente,
e non mi vanto ch' io disdotto sia,
se non la ov' e la dolze donna mia.
O Deo, como fui matto,
quando mi dipartive
la ov' era stato in tanta dengnitate;
e s' io caro 1' acatto,
e sciolglio come neve,
pensando c' altri 1' aia im potestate,
e di me pare mille anni la dia
ched io ritorni a voi, madonna mia,
lo reo pensiero si forte m' atassa
che rider ne giucare non mi lassa.
Canzonetta gioiosa,
va la, fuor di Soria,
a quella c' a lo meo cor in presgione;
di' a la piu amorosa
ca per sua cortesia
rimembri de lo suo servidore,
RUGGIERONE DI PALERMO 65
quelli che per suo amore va penando
mentre non faccio tutto '1 suo comando ;
e priegalami per la sua bontate
ch' ella mi degia tenere lealtate.
(V.R.V. Nan.)
XXXV
Ben mi degio alegrare,
e far versi d' amore,
ca cui son servidore
m' a molto grandemente meritato ;
non si poria contare
lo gram bene e 1' aunore ;
ben agia lo martore
ch' io per lei lungiamente agio durato.
Per6 consilglio questo a chi e amadori,
non disperi, ma sia buon sofridori,
e lor no 'ncresca la gran dimoranza ;
chi vole compiere su' atendanza
viva a speranza,
che non mi par che sia di valimento,
da ch' omo vene tosto a compimento.
Ben 6 veduto manti
a chi par forte amare,
e non vole penare,
e fa come lo nibbio ciertamente;
ch' egli e bello e possanti
e non vole pigliare,
per non troppo affanare,
se non cosa quale sia parisciente;
cosi fa quelli c' a povero core,
di soferire pene per amore ;
e gia sa egli ca null' altr' amistanza
SUTLER F
66 RUGGIERONE DI PALERMO
non guadangna omo mai per vilitanza.
Sia rimembranza,
chi vole amor di donna viva a spene,
e contesi in gran gioia tutte le pene.
Cosi dovemo fare
come il buon marinaro,
che corre tempo amaro
e per affanno gia non s'abandona;
pria s' adastia al ben fare
ancor che li sia caro,
mentrunque a buon dinaro
non si ricrede della sua persona;
vede la morte ed a sempre speranza,
e sta in tormento e dassi buon comforto ,
finche campa il rio tempo e giunge a porto;
ed in diporto
nolli rimembra poi di quelle pene.
Dolcie e lo male ond' om aspetta bene.
(V.R.V. Mon.)
ANONYMOUS
XXXVI
Dispietata morte e fera,
cierto (se') da biasmare,
che non ti vale preghera
ne merze chiamare.
Con ti facca si * se' dura,
che d' auzider non ai cura
quale t' e in talento,
e per sollazi rancura
dai e pene e tormento.
1 qy. Con te fa, ca si.
ANONYMOUS 67
Di te mi blasmo c' ai tolto
il gioco e V alegreza ;
morte dura, mio diporto
messo ai in gran tristeza,
si che giamai non credia,
lassa, veder quella dia
di tanto ismarimento
c' a si dolcie compangnia
faciesse partimento.
Dipartit' ai, micidera,
lo piu verace amore,
che tra me e '1 piu fino era,
Baldo di valore,
in cui era valimento,
cortesia ed ardimento;
fatt' ai grande fallenza,
c' a null' om rincrescimento
faciea, anzi piagienza.
A ciascun a piagimento
servia e co leanza,
e a nullo ofendimento
fe, ne soperchianza ;
era uomo giovane e piano
a li boni ad ongne mano,
e tuttor serventese,
lo gientil Baldo, sovrano
di terra Scarlinese.
Maladetta sia ad ongnore
colonna maremmana,
la onde vene quel dolore
che [gia]mai no risana
f 2
68 ANONYMOUS
c' auzise la persona umana
ch' era in veritate
di tutte bonta fontana
e d' ongne [gientile] umilitate.
(V.R.V. Mon.)
XXXVII
La mia vita e si forte e dura e fera
ch' io nom posso ne viver ne morire,
anzi distrugo come foco ciera,
e sto com om che non si pub sentire,
e uscito son del senno la ov' era,
e cominciato sono ad imfollire.
[Ma] ben mi poria campare
quella per cui m' avene
tutto questo penare;
per bene amare lo mio cor si ritene.
Merze saria sed ella m' aiutasse,
da ch' io per lei son cosi giudicato,
e qualche bon conforto mi donasse,
che non fosse cosi alapidato;
pecato saria s' ella mi lasasse
esser si fortemente condannato ;
c' a Deo non trovo aiuto
ne chi mi dar conforto,
ond' io sono (accad)uto
e venuto ne sono a malo porto.
Se madonna sapesse lo martore
e li tormenti la ove son tirato,
ben credo mi daria lo suo amore,
ch' io 1' b si fortemente goleato,
piu di null' altra cosa mi sta in core,
si ch' io non b riposo in nessun lato.
ANONYMOUS 69
Tanto mi tien distretto
ch' io non 6 ballia ;
isto com' om scorn fitto,
sanza <ri) ditto sono in mala via.
Or com faragio, lasso, adolorato?
che Dio non trovo chi mi consigliare,
di quanto mondo quant' agio cercato?
nullo consiglio nom posso trovare,
a tutti [li] miei amici sono andato,
dicon che non mi posson aiutare ;
se non quella c' a valore
di darmi morte e vita;
senza nullo tenore
lo suo amore m' e manna saporita.
Va, canzonetta mia fresca e novella,
a quella che di tutt' e la corona;
va, e saluta quella alta donzella,
di ch' io son servo della sua persona ;
di, che per suo onor questo faccia ella,
tragami delle pene che mi dona ;
seria gran conoscienza
da che m'.a cosi preso,
non mi lasci in perdenza,
ch' io non 6 scienza, in tal dolglia m' a miso.
(V.R.V. Val. as by G. delle C)
XXXVIII
Donna, lo fino amore
m' a tutto si compreso
che tutto son donato a voi amare ;
nom pb pensar lo core
altro c' amore acceso,
e come melglio vi si possa dare
70 ANONYMOUS
E cierto lo gioioso cominzare
isforza 1' amorosa mia natura,
ond' io mi credo assai magnificato,
e fra gli amanti in gran gioia coronato.
Eo porto alta corona,
poi ch' eo vi son servente
a cui mi sembra alto regnar servire;
si alta gioia mi dona
a voi star ubidente,
pregone voi che '1 degnate gradire.
E vero ciertamente credo dire
che 'nfra le donne voi siete sovrana,
d- ogni grazia e di vertu compiuta,
per cui morir d' amor mi saria vita.'
Se lingua ciascun membro
del corpo si faciesse,
vostre belleze nom poria cantare;
ad. ogni gioia v' assembro
che dicier si potesse,
ci6 avete bel che si pu6 divisare.
Molte ci a belle donne e d' alto affare;
voi soprastate come '1 ciel la terra;
che melglio vale aver di voi speranza,
. che d' altre donne aver ferma ciertanza.
Ancor che sia gravezza
lo tormento d' amore,
maggio ca bon d' amor m' asembra bene;
e nulla crudeleza
pote pensar lo core
che 'n voi aveste donna, e nom s' avene.
Gioco e sollazo me sostene in pene,
sperando c' avenir pu6 la gran gioia;
ANONYMOUS 71
melglio mi sa per voi mal sostenere,
che compimento d' altra gioia avere.
Madonna, il mio penare
per fino amor gradisco,
pensando ch' e in voi gran conoscienza;
troppo non de' durare
1' affanno che sofrisco,
che bon sengnor non da torta sentenza.
Compiutamente e 'n voi tutta valenza
e merito, voi siete e morte e vita ;
piCi vertudiosa siete in meritare
ch' io nom posso in voi servendo amare.
(V.R.V.)
XXXIX
Quando la primavera
apar 1' aulente fiore,
guardo inver la rivera
la matina agli albore ;
audo gli rausingnuoli
dentro dagli albuscielli,
e fan versi novelli
dentro dagli lor cagiuoli,
perche d? amore spera.
Spera(nza) che m' a[i] preso
di servir 1' avenente,
quella col chiaro viso,
alta Stella luciente ;
fior sovr' ogni sovrana,
conta e gaia ed adorna,
in cui 1' amor sogiorna,
tu c' avanzi Morgana,
merze, che m' ai conquiso.
7 2 ANONYMOUS
Lo suo dolze sembiante
e 1' amorosa ciera
tuttor mi sta davante
la matina e la sera;
e la notte dormendo
ist6 con madonna mia,
perch' eo dormir vorria ;
melglio m' e dormir gaudendo
c' aver pensier veghiante.
S' io dormo, in mia parvenza
tuttor 1' agio im ballia,
e lo giorno m' intenza
di lei, sembianti invia.
Mostramisi guerrera,
ma non e per sua volglia,
al core n' 6 gran dolglia ;
per una laida ciera
perdo sua benvolglienza.
Ancor tengno speranza
nel vostro franco core,
che li sia rimembranza
de lo suo fino amore.
Ragion' e ch' io ne canto,
ancor mi faccia orgolglio ;
tuttor son quel ch' io solglio,
leale e fino amante
senza falsa sembianza.
Lo tempo e la stasgione
mi comforta di dire
novi canti d' amore1
per madonna servire ;
se madonna discrede
1 qy. dard ne.
ANONYMOUS 73
le lingue mal parlanti,
eo le far6 sembianti,
com' amo a dritta fede
e senza fallisgione.
Dio sconfonda in terra
le lingue mal parlanti,
ch' entra noi miser guerra
ch' eramo leali amanti.
Chi disparte sollazo,
gioco ed ispellamento,
Dio lo metta in tormento,
che sia preso a reo lazo
e giuggiato di serra.
(V.R.V. Mon.)
'CIULLO D'ALCAMO'
XL
Rosa fresca aulentissima c' apari inver la state,
le donne ti disiano pulcelle maritate ;
tragemi d' este focora se t' este a bolontate ;
Per te non aio abento notte e dia
pensando pur di voi, madonna mia.
— Se di meve trabalgliti, follia lo ti fa fare ;
lo mar potresti arompere avanti a semenare,
1' abere d' esto secolo tutto quanto asembrare,
averemi nom potria esto monno;
avanti gli cavelli m' aritonno.
— Se li cavelli artonniti avanti foss' io morto,
ca in essi mi perdera lo solazzo e '1 diporto ;
quando ci passo e veioti, rosa fresca del orto,
bono conforto donimi tuttore,
poniamo che s' aggiunga il nostro amore.
74 'CIULLO D'ALCAMO'
— Che '1 nostro amore aggiungasi nom boglio m' atalenti :
se ci ti trova paremo cogl' altri miei parenti,
guarda non t' arigolgano questi forti corenti ;
como ti seppe bona la venuta,
consilglio che ti guardi alia partuta.
— Se i tuoi parenti trovanmi, e che mi posson fare ?
una difensa mettoci di due milia agostari ;
non mi tocara padreto per quanto averea 'm Bari.
Viva lo 'mperadore, grazia a Deo —
intendi, bella, quel che ti dico eo.
— Tu me non lasci vivere ne sera ne maitino ;
donna mi son di perperi, d' auro massa amotino;
se tanto aver donassemi quant' a lo Saladino,
e per aiunta quant' a lo Soldano,
tocareme non poteria la mano.
— Molte sono le femine c' anno dura la testa,
e 1' omo con parabole le adimina e amonesta;
tanto intorno procacciala finch' e ella 'n sua podesta ;
femina d' omo non si pu6 tenere,
guardati, bella, pur di ripentere.
— Ch' eo me ne pentesse ! davanti foss' io aucisa ;
c' a nulla bona femina per me fosse ripresa.
Er sera ci passasti (tu) corenno a la distesa,
a questi ti riposa, canzoneri,
le tue paraole a me non piaccion gueri.
— Donne quante son le schiantora che m' ai mise a lo core,
e solo pur pensannome la dia quanno v6 fore;
femina d' esto secolo tanto non amai ancore
quant' amo teve, rosa invidiata ;
ben credo che mi fosti distinata.
'CIULLO D'ALCAMO' 75
— Se distinata fosseti, caderia dell' alteze,
che male messe forano in teve mie belleze ;
se tuto adivenissemi, tagliarami le treze,
e consore m' arendo a una magione,
avanti che m' artochin le persone.
— Se tu consore arenneti, donna col viso cleri,
a lo mostero venoci e rennomi com fieri ; .
per tanta prova vincierti faralo volontieri,
con teco stao la sera e lo maitino,
besongn' e ch' io ti tenga al meo dimino.
— Boime, tapina, misera ! com' ao reo distinato ;
Giesii Cristo 1' altissimo, del tutto m' e airato ;
conciepisti m' adabattare in omo blestiemato.
Cierca la terra ch' este grane assai,
chiu bella donna di me troverai.
— Ciercat' aio Calabria, Toscana e Lombardia,
Puglia. Constantinopoli, Gienova, Pisa e Soria,
La Mangna e Babilonia, tutta Barberia,
donna no vi trovai tanto cortese,
perche sovrana di meve ti prese.
— Poi tanto trabagliastiti facioti meo pregheri
che tu vadi adomanimi a mia mare e a mon peri ;
se daremiti dengnano menamina lo mosteri,
e sposami davanti da la iente,
e poi far6 lo tuo comannamente,
— Di ci6 che dici, vitama, neiente non ti bale,
ca delle tue parabole fatto n' 6 ponti e scale ;
penne pensasti mettere, sonti cadute 1' ale;
e dato t' aio la bolta sotana,
dunque, se p6i, teniti villana.
76 'CIULLO D'ALCAMO'
— En paura non mettermi di nullo manganiello ;
istomi n' esta groria d' esto forte castello;
prezo le tue parabole men che d' uno zitello.
Se tu no levi e vatine di quaci,
se tu ci fosse morto ben mi chiaci.
— Dunque voresti, vitama, che per te fosse strutto,
se morto essere deboci od intagliato tutto;
di quaci non mi mosera se non ai' delo frutto
lo quale stae ne lo tuo jardino ;
disiolo la sera e lo matino.
— Di quel frutto non abero conti ne cabal ieri,
molto lo disiano marchesi e justizieri ;
avere nonde pottero, gironde molti feri.
Intendi bene ci6 che vo' (ti) dire —
men este di mill' onze lo tuo abere.
— Molti son li garofani, ma non che salma 'nd' ai ;
bella, non dispregiaremi se avanti non m' assai ;
se vento e in proda, e girasi, e giungieti a le prai,
a rimembrare t' ai este parole,
ca d'esta (mia) animella assai mi dole.
— Macara se dolesseti, che cadesse angosciato j
le gienti ci coresoro da traverso e da lato;
tutte meve diciessono : Acori esto malnato ;
non ti dengnara porgere la mano,
per quanto aver a '1 Papa e lo Soldano.
— Deo lo volesse, vitama, te fosse morto in casa ;
1' arma n' anderia consola ca notte e di pantasa ;
la jente ti chiamarano : oi pergiura malvasa,
c' ai morto l'omo in casata, traita,
sanz' ogni colpo levimi la vita.
'CIULLO D'ALCAMO' 77
— Se tu no levi e vatine co la maladizione,
li frati miei ti trovano dentro chissa magione ;
ben lo mi so, feroci son, perdici la persone,
c' a meve se' venuto a sormonare ;
parente, amico, non t' ave aiutare.
— A meve non aitano amici ne parenti,
istrani mi son, carama, enfra esta bona jente ;
or fa un' anno, vitama, ch' entrata mi sei 'n mente,
di canno ti vististi lo 'ntaiuto,
bella, di quello jorno son feruto.
— Ai, tanto namorastiti, Juda lo traito,
como se fosse porpore, iscarlato o sciamito.
Se le Vangiele jurimi che mi sia a marito,
avere me non potera ('n) esto monno ;
avanti in mare jitomi al profonno.
— Se tu nel mare gititi, donna cortese e fina,
dereto mi ti misera per tutta la marina,
e posto chanegaseti, trobaret' a la rina,
solo per questa cosa ad impretare,
conteco m' aio a giungere a pecare.
— Sengnomi in Patre e 'n Filio ed in Santo Mateo ;
so ca tu non sei retico, filglio di Giudeo,
e cotale parabole non udi dire anch' eo ;
mortasi la femina a lo 'ntutto,
perdeci lo saboro e lo disdutto.
— Ben lo sacc' io, carama ; altro nom posso fare
se quisso non accomplimi, lassone lo cantare;
fallo, mia donna, plazati, che bene lo puoi fare
ancora tu no m' ami, molto t' amo,
si m* ai preso come lo pescie a 1' amo.
78 'CIULLO D'ALCAMO'
— Sazo che m' ami, i' amoti di core paladino ' ;
levati suso e vatene, tornaci a lo matino ;
se ci6 che dico faciemi di bon cor t' amo e fino ;
quisso t' imprometto sanza falglia,
te' la mia fede, che m' ai in tua balglia.
— Per ci6 che dici, carama, neiente non mi movo ;
inanti prenni e scannami — tolli esto cortello novo —
'sto fatto fare potest inanti scalfi un uovo;
accompli mio talento, arnica bella,
che 1' arma co lo core mi s' infella.
— Ben sazo 1' arma doleti com' omo c' ave arsura,
esto fatto nom potersi per null' altra misura;
se non a le Vangiele, che mo ti dico, jura
averemi non puoi in tua podesta ;
inanti prenni e tagliami la testa.
— L' Evangiele, carama, ch' io le porto in seno,
a lo mostero presile — non c' era lo patrino —
sovr' esto libro juroti mai non ti vengno meno.
Accompli mio talento in caritate,
che 1' arma mene sta in sutilitate.
— Meo sire, poi jurastimi eo tutta quanta incienno ;
sono a la tua presenza, da voi non mi difenno ;
s' eo minespreso aioti, merze, a voi m' arenno ;
a lo letto ne gimo a la bon' ora,
che chissa cosa n' e data in ventura.
MESSER OSMANO
XLI
Una fermana iscoppai da Cascioli,
cita cita sen gia in grand' aina,
eccoci ne portava impingnoli,
saimati di buona saima ;
1 qy. di core, paladino.
MESSER OSMANO 79
dissi, 'a te daro rossi treccioli,
e operata cinta sciamitina,
se co meco ti dai ne la caba,
se mi viva mai, e boni scarponi.'
— 'So c' ai e mal fai, che cantaba
la fantilla di Cencio Guidoni.
C ad onto meo me 1' ai comannato,
ca la i' ne le vada a le rote ;
in quan' son co lo vitto parato
a li scotitoi, ch' enno men zote,
con un truffo di vino mischiato,
e non mi scordai per le gote,
e scatoni per ben minestrare
la farrata del bono farrone ;
leva te su, non m' avicinare,
ou tu semplo milenso mamone.'
Ed io tutto mi fui spaventato,
per timiccio che non a Satanai,
quan la fermana tansin costat' 6,
e quella mi died' e diss', {Ai,
o tu tristo dolgluto crepato,
per lo vol to di Dio mal lo fai ;
che di me nom puoi aver una cica
se non pur mi prendi a nosciella ;
esci indi e non gir per la spica !
si, ti veio arlucar la masciella.'
— ' Fermana, se mi t' aconsenchi,
daroti panari di persici,
e moricie per far bianchi denchi,
tutti atortti, se quisso non dici ;
se mi lasci passare al oclenchi,
giungerotti colori in tralici.
8o MESSER OSMANO
— ' E io piu non ti faccio rubesto,
poi cotanto m' ai sucotata ;
vienci ancoi ne sia pirino resto,
e d' occhiate nom fia stimulata.'
A alaborito ne gio alaterato
chera alvato senza sollena,
lo battisaco trovai bel lavato
e da capo mi pose la sciena
e tuto quanto miffui comsolato,
ca sopra mi gito buona leina,
e con essa miffui apatovito
e unqua me novi altrei,
' mai fa(re) com omo iscionito,
be mi pare che tu mastro <s)ei.
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
XLII
Tutto il dolor che mai portai fu gioia,
e la gioia neiente appo 'I dolore
del mio cor lasso, a cui la morte scorga,
c' altro non vegio ormai sia validore ;
che 'mprima del piacer poco puo noia,
ma poi forte pu6 troppo, ond' a tristore ;
maggio convien che poverta si porga
a lo ritornador c' al entradore.
Adunque eo, lasso, in poverta tomato
del piu ricco acquistato
che mai facesse alcun del meo paraggio,
sofera Dio pur ch' i' viva ad oltraggio
di tutta gente e del mio forsenato?
non cierto gia se non vuol mio danaggio.
(V.U v >
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 81
Ai lasso ! co mal vidi amaro amore,
la sovranatural vostra bellezza,
e F onorato piacientier piacere,
e tutto ben ch' e 'n voi, somma e grandezza,
e vidi peggio il dibonaire corde
c' umili6 la vostra altera altezza
a far noi due d' un core e d' un volere,
perch' io, com' omo mai, portai richezza;
c' a lo riccor d' amor null' altro e pare,
ne reina pu6 fare
riccore como n' e, quant' omo (e) basso ;
ne lo vostr' aparer in amor passo.
Dunque chi '1 mio dolor pu6 pareiare?
che qual piu perde acquista ver me lasso.
Ai ! com pot' om che non di vita a fiore
durar contra di mal tutt' altro l grato ?
si com' eo, lasso, ostal d' ogni tormento,
che se nel piu forte om fosse amassato
si forte e si coralmente dolzore
come dolore in me, gia trapassato
fora di vita contro ogni argomento,
como, lasso, viv' eo di vita fore.
Ai ! morte, villania fai e peccato,
che si m' ai disdengnato,
perche vedi morire opo mi fora,
e perch' eo piu sovente e forte mora ;
ma mal tuo grato i' pur moro isforzato
de le mie man, se melglio non posso ancora.
Male 6 piu c' altro, e men, lasso, 6 conforto,
che s' io perdesse onor tutto ed avere
e tutti amici e delle membra parte,
si mi conforterei per vita avere;
qy. oltre.
er G
82 FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
ma qui nom posso, poi ch' e di me torto
e ritornato in voi forzo e savere,
che non fue amore meo gia d' altra parte;
dunqua com' 6 di confortar podere?
E poi saver non m' aita, e dolore
mi pur stringe lo core ;
pur conven ch' io m' atteggi, e si facio eo>
per6 om mi mostra a dito e del mal meo
si gabba, ed io pur vivo a disonore,
credo, al mal grado del mondo e di Deo.
Ai ! bella gioia, noia e dolor meo,
che punto fortunal, lasso, fu quello
di vostro dipartir, crudel mia morte ;
che doblo mal torn6 tutto meo bello,
si del meo mal mi duol ; ma piu, pardeo,
e me lo vostro amor crudele e fello,
ca s' eo tormento d' una parte forte,
e voi dell' altra piu stringe il chiavello
come la piu distretta e inamorata
che mai fosse aprovata;
che ben fa forzo dimession d' avere
talor basso omo in donna alta capare,
ma ci6 non v' agradio gia ne agrada,
dunque d' amor coral fue ben volefe.
Amor, merze, per Dio vi confortate,
ne da me non guardate,
che piccioF e per mia morte dannaggio ;
ma per lo vostro amor sanza paraggio,
e forse anco per6 mi ritornate,
se mai tornar degio, n' alegreraggio.
Amor, amor, piu che veleno amaro,
non gia ben vede chiaro
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 83
chi si mette in poder tuo volontero ;
che il primo e '1 mezzo n' e gravoso e fero,
e la fine di ben tutto contraro,
o' prende laude e biasmo ogni mistero.
(V.R.V.)
XLIII
Tuttor s' eo veglio o dormo
di lei pensar non campo,
c' amor in cor m' attacca;
e quel voler ad or m' 6
ch' e di zappar in campo
o di credere a tacca ;
e bon sapemi, como
eo n' aquistasse, c' 6 mo ;
ma che diritto n' 6?
perch' eo non dico no
di lei servir maidi,
dica chi vuol, mal di.
Ben 6 diritto, so, ma
se 'n amar lei m' aduco
del cor tutto e dell' alma,
perch' e di valor soma,
e che piaciere duco
da tor amor deli' alma
che piu m' ama che se —
ci6 dia saver, che se
trova suo pregio manco
piu e onta, non manco,
che se ben m' ama ; al dobbio
meglio e cierto che '1 dobbio.
g 2
84 FRA GU1TT0NE D'AREZZO
Om che pregio ama, e p6
piu che leggere in scola,
amar valeli pr6 ;
che piCi legiero e P6
a passar senza scola,
che '1 mondo ad omo pr6
senza amore ched a
cori e bisongni da
spronar, valore, e forzo ;
perche alcuno omo for z6
che briga o travaglio agia,
se vale, non varagia.
Amor gia per la gioia
che ne vengna non laudo
quanto per lo travaglio ;
ca per aver la gioia,
c' a lei sia par, non 1' audo ;
quanto per lei travaglio
s' eo la tenesse ad agio,
ben se n' andrea mio agio,
poi tutte gioie 1' om a
non varannolo, ma
terral grand' astio e vile ;
perche tal gioia m' al vil' e.
Poso e travaglio mesto,
dato e tolto a buon modo,
e piacier sempre a me;
e di ciascuno mesto
si bonamente m' odo
gran pagamento m' e.
E' val, mi sembra, melglio
quanto riso vermelglio
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 85
sperar d' aver arnica;
che poi n' a, non a mica
ver chi sperava averne,
e di gran state a vern' e.
Scuro saccio che par lo
mio detto, ma che parlb
a chi lo sente ed ame;
che lo 'ngengno mio da me
che mi pur provi in onne
manera, e talento 6 nne.
Movi, canzone, adessa
e va in Arezzo ad essa
da cui io tengno ed 6
se 'n alcun ben mi do ;
e di, che presto so' mo
di ritornare s' omo.
(V.R.V.)
XLIV
Amor tanto altamente
lo mio intendimento
have miso, che nente
agio ardimento di contare e dire
come di lei m' a preso;
ma vista tal presento
ch' e' lei a cierto miso
come in suo sengnoragio a meo disire.
A che di ci6 m' invegio,
cierto cielar nol degio,
non che cielar lo bene
che del sengnore vene, fosse fallire.
86 FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
Falla chi piii piacente
nol fa che '1 ver consente ;
meglio a lo male dia
lo ben donare ubria, poi val servire.
Eo, che servir talent' o,
la detta via tengno;
al male ubrla consento
e '1 ben che mente in viso ognor mi sia
e d' opera laudata,
di cid mentir son dengno,
e si che sia accettata
a chi di tale donna e 'n sengnoria,
se serve for fallenza
che non agia temenza
perche tant' alta sia,
che gia di gientilia non vene orgoglio,
ma ci6 ch' e non fallire
li pu6 gioia sentire,
ed omo, chente sia,
(che svia per) sengnoria laudar non volglio.
Tant' alto sengnoragio
6 disiato avere ;
mi credo aver, ne ad agio
parra al mondo secondo a sua valenza;
e ci6 considerando
quanto e dolze piaciere
su me distese amando
vicino fui che mori di temenza.
Ma avaccio mi riprese
uno pensier cortese,
com sempre gentileza
face 'n lo cor alteza e pietanza;
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 87
allor temer dimisi,
fedelita promisi;
com' ell' ave coraggio
le feci prender sagio per semblanza
Poi ch' approvo lo saggio
con fina canoscienza
ch' era di fino omaggio,
mi fu suo sengnoraggio concieduto ;
nel suo chiarito viso
e amorosa piagienza
fumi lo cor remiso,
c' altra guisa non fora mai partuto.
Quando di ci6 m' accorsi
tal gioia in cor mi porsi
che mi facie affollire
e veggio pur grazire me 'n sua piagienza,
adunque non damagio
mi fa lo temor c' agio,
ma degiol bene amare,
che sturbato m' a fare ver lei fallenza.
Fallenza e lo dimando
far lei senza ragione
ch' eo vegio che si stando
m' a sovrameritato il meo servire ;
per6 tacier m' asservo,
per6 che guiderdone
non de' chieder buon servo,
bisongna non che '1 cheri il suo servire.
Se vo atendendo lasso,
poi m' avenisse, lasso,
che mi trovasse in fallo,
sicome Prezevallo, non cherere.
88 FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
Vorei a presente morto;
mo non tal pensier porto,
ma si mala 'ncrescienza,
che sola canoscienza a la im podere.
Va, canzone, a lei ch' ene
donna e signor di mene,
di' che di nulla cosa
ch' a lei non sia gioiosa eo non son vago ;
ma di starle servente
tacito e sofferente,
e volglio che di me faccia
tutto cio che le piaccia, ed e me pago.
Poi Mazeo di Rico
ch' e di fin presgio rico
mi saluta, mi spia,
e di', ch' a rasgion fia (ch') el guiderdone
dea perdere chi '1 chiede ;
e di cio fogli fede,
chi '1 servir piu dispresgia
e guiderdon non presgia, a tal rasgione.
(V.R.V. Val.)
XLV
Ai lasso, or e stagion di doler tanto
a ciascun om che ben ama rasgione;
ch' io meraviglio chi trova guerigione,
che morto nol agia corotto e pianto,
vegiendo 1' alta fior, sempre granata,
e 1' onorato antico uso romano,
che cierto per crudel sorte e villano
se d' avaccio non e ricoverato ;
Che 1' onorata sua rica grandeza
e '1 presgio quasi e gia tutto perito
e lo valor e '1 poder si disvia.
FRA GUITTONE U'AREZZO 89
Ai lasso, or quale dia
fu mai tanto crudel danagio audito?
Deo, com' ai lo sofrito?
diritto pena, e torto entra in alteza.
Alteza tanta, e la fiorita fiore,
fu, mentre ver se stessa era leale,
che riteneva mondo imperiale,
aquistando per suo alto valore
provincie e terre presso e lungi mante ;
e sembrava che far volesse impero
sicomo Roma gia fece, e legiero
gli era, ciascuno non contrastante,
e cid gli stava ben cierto a rasgione,
che non s' indi penava a suo pro tanto
como per ritener giustizia e poso ;
e poi fu li1 amoroso
di fare cid, si trasse avanti tanto
c' al mondo non fu canto
che non sonasse il presgio del leone.
Leone, lasso, or non e, ch' i' lo veo
tratto 1' unghie e le denti e lo valore,
e '1 gran lingnagio suo mortal dolore,
e di suo bel presgio messo a gran reo.
E ci6 li a fatto chi ? Quegli che sono
de la gientil sua schiatta stratti e nati,
che fur per lui cresciuti ed avanzati
sovra tutti altri, e collogati im bono ;
e per la grande alteza ove li mise
e' mostran si che '1 piagan quasi a morte,
ma Dio di guerisgion feceli dono,
ed ei fe lor perdono ;
ed anche refedir, poi mal fu forte,
1 qy. le.
9o FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
e perdon6 lor morte,
or anno lui e sue membra conquise.
Conquiso e 1' alto comun fiorentino,
e col sanese in tal modo a cangiato
che tutta 1' onta e lo danno che dato
li a sempre, como sa ciascun latino,
li rende, e tolle il pro e 1' onor tutto;
che Montalcino a combattuto a forza
e Montepulcian misoro in sua forza1,
e di Maremma a la Cervia lo frutto,
San Gimignan, Poggibonize e Colle,
e Volterra ed il paese a suo tene,
e la campana, le insegne, e gli arnesi,
e li onor tutti presi
ave, con cid che seco avea di bene;
e tutto ci6 gli avene
per quella schiatta ch' e piu c' altra folle.
Folle e chi fugie il suo pro e cria danno
e 1' onor suo fa che 'n vergongna torna,
di bona liberta, ove sogiorna
a gram piacier, s' addice a suo gran danno2
sotto (una) sengnoria fella e malvasgia,
e suo sengnor fa suo grande nemico.
A voi, che siete or in Firenze, dico :
che cid ch' e divenuto par v' adagia;
e poi che gli Alamanni in casa avete,
servite bene e fatevi mostrare
le spade lor con che v' an fesso i visi
e padri e filgli aucisi ;
e piacemi che lor degiate dare —
perch' ebero in ci6 fare
fatica assai — di vostre gran monete.
1 qy. m. a sua rin forza. " qy. malanno.
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 91
Monete mante e gran gioie presentate
ai Conti ed a gli Uberti, e a gli altri tutti
ch' a tanto grand' onor vanno * condutti,
che miso v' anno Sena in potestate,
Pistoia e Colle e Volterra fann' ora
vostre castelle guardar a lor spese;
e '1 Conte Rosso a Maremma e '1 paese ;
Montalcin sta sicuro sanza mura;
di Ripafratte teme or il Pisano,
e '1 Perugin, che '1 lago nolgli tolliate;
e Roma vuol con voi far compangnia,
onore e sengnoria.
Or dunque pare ben che tutto abiate
ci6 che disiavate,
potete far cioe re del Toscano.
Baron lombardi e romani e pulgliesi
e toschi e romangnuoli e marchisgiani,
Fiorenza, fior che sempre rinovella,
a sua corte v' apella,
che fare vuol di se re de' Toscani,
poi tutti gli Alamanni
e conquisi per forza ave i Senesi.
(V.R.V. Mon.)
XLVI
Tanto sovente dett' agio altra fiada
di dispiagienza e di falso piacere,
che bel m' e forte ed agradivo or dire
di ci6 che di (ben) grado in cor m' agrada.
Primamente nel mondo agrado pace,
d' onde m' agrada vedere
1' uomo e la roba viaciere
L qy. v' anno.
92 FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
ne' boschi al cierto si come in castelli ;
e m' agrada gli angnelli
lungo i lupi veder pascier ad agio;
e m' agrada a misagio
saver rappador tuti e frodolenti;
ed agrada fugir sentir carizia,
sorvenendo dovizia
abbondosa, che pascie e che rifacie
tutte affamate genti,
onde vanno gaudenti,
e cantando e laudando esso chi '1 facie.
Bel m' e savor di re che i vizi scusa
e casto e mansueto pur si tengna,
nella cui reggion men forza rengna,
e che P altrui non cher, ne '1 suo mal usa :
e bel m' e manto alt' omo, umil savere;
e bel che forte Sengnore
rende salute ed amore
del ben (a li) vicini; e bel mi sae
omo ricco ch' estrae
la mano sua d' ogni largheza vana,
e la stende e Y apiana
a limosina far d' allegro core;
e bel m' e giovan om semplice e retto
d' ogni laideza netto ;
e bello, vergognar veglio e dolere
di che fue pecadore
contra nostro Sengnore ;
e bello se mendar sa a suo podere.
Piacemi cavalier che Dio temendo
porta lo nobil suo ordine bello ;
piacemi dibonare e pro donzello,
lo cui mestier e sol pugnar servendo
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 93
e giudici che 'n se servan ben legie ;
campion che [non] torto difende,
e mercatante che vende
ad un sol motto, e sua roba non lauda;
pover' ora che non frauda,
ne s' abandona gia ne se contrista,
ma per afanno aquista
che lui e neciesaro, e se contene
in quel suo poco tuto alegramente.
E forte m' e piacente
om che se ben in aversita regie ;
piaciemi anco chi bene
ogni ingiura sostiene,
e c' ave in se chi ben predica e legie.
E diletto veder donna che porta
a suo sengnor fede amorosa e pura,
e che da pacie, e che piacier lui cura,
e sagiamente, se falla, il comporta ;
e donna bella, che bella s' obria ;
ed ogni donna e donzella
che basso e rado favella,
e c' a temente e vergongnoso aspetto.
Veder forte diletto
donna che sottomette a castitate
bellore e gioventate,
e via piu s' a sengnor avoltro e brutto;
e donna ch' e vedova sola, ed ae
briga e famiglia, e sae
e fa veder c' aquisti, tengna, e dia, .
con argomento tutto
presgio prendendo e frutto,
lungiando a se pecato e villania.
94 FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
Sami bon Papa la cui vita e lucie,
al cui splendor ciascun malfar vergongna,
ed al cui spechio s' orna, ed a1 ben pungna,
onde guerra diparte, pace aducie ;
e Parlato, la cui operazione,
abito, ed alto edificio
paga ben quel beneficio
e quella dengnita che data e lui ;
Rilescioso, che pui
parte del mondo, e non nel mondo sede;
e gientil giovane omo e dilicato
che ben porta chercato,
poi d' ogni parte contro a gran campione
e mastro in nostra fede;
la cui vita fa fede
che solo in nostra legie e salvazione.
Agrada e piacie e sa piu bello e bono
la benivol gran bontate,
la 'ntera e vera pietate
di quel giudice eterno, en cui potenza
resta la mia sentenza.
E m' adolza lo cor sovente a audire
la fermeza e 1' ardire
degli antichi cristian buon cavalieri.
Ai, che dolce (e) audir la pacienza
lor grande, ed astinenza,
e V ardore di lor gran caritate,
e come al martir vieno casti e fieri,
non gia men volontieri
che basso cherco a sua gran dengnitate.
(V.R.V.)
1 qy. e da.
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 95
XLVII
Vergongno, lasso, ed 6 me stesso ad ira,
e doveria via piu, riconosciendo
co' mal usai lo fior del tempo mio.
Perche no '1 core mio sempre sospira?
o gli occhi perche mai finan piangendo,
o la bocca di dir : merze di Dio ?
poi francheza di cor e vertii d' alma
tutta sommisi, oime lasso, al servagio
de' vizi miei, non Dio ne buono usagio
ne diritto guardando in lor seguire,
non mutando disire.
S' io risurgiesse, com fenicie facie,
gia fora a la fornacie
lo putriffatto mio vil corpo ardendo ;
ma poi non posso, attendo
che lo pietoso Padre me sovengna,
di tal guisa ch' io vengna
pulificato e mondo, e di corpo alma.
Oi lasso, gia vegio genere umano,
che sengnoril naturalmente e tanto
che '1 minor om talenta imperiare,
e, ci6 piu c' altro piace ; e piu gli e strano
d' aver sengnor, che Dio volentier manto
non vuole gia ciascun, sicome pare;
come poi dunque lo minore e '1 magio
sommette a' vizi il corpo e 1' arma e '1 core,
<ond') e servagio alcun, lasso, pegiore?
ed e mai sengnoria perfetta alcuna
che sua propia persona
tenere 1' omo ben sotto rasgione ?
Ai, che fu mai '1 campione
che la V ogni sengnor perde, e vincente?
96 FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
ne poi d' altro e perdente,
che 'n loco ove vertu dell' alma impera
non e nociente spera
ne tema, ne dolore ne allegragio.
Oi morti fatti noi di nostra vita !
oi stolti dal vile * nostro savere !
oi pover di ricor, bassi d' alteza !
com' e verta di noi tanto fallita
c' ogni cosa di vizio e noi piacere,
ed ogni cosa di vertii graveza?
Gia fisolafi, Dio non conosciendo,
ne poi morte aspettando guiderdone,
schifaro vizi e aver tutta stagione,
seguendo si vertu, c' onesta vita
fu lor gaudio e lor vita ;
e noi come pu6 cosa altra abellire
che 'n vertu lui seguire,
lo qual chi '1 segue ben perde timore,
che non teme om sengnore,
morte ne poverta, danno ne pene ?
c' ogni cosa gli e bene,
si com' (e ogni) mal, non lui seguendo.
Pungnam dunque a valer forzosamente,
ne '1 ben schifiam perche noi sembri grave,
c' orato aquisto non fu senza afanno;
e se 1' om pene per vertute sente,
ne i vizi usar sempre e dolze e soave,
che spesso rede 2 dolglia ed onta e danno.
Ma cid ch' e noi contra talento ed uso
n' e grave, e n' e legier ci6 ch' e con esso;
ch' uso e voler c' avem nel male messo
ne '1 fa piacer, e dispiacer lo bene ;
1 qy. da tutto. 2 qy. rende ; or e rede.
FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO 97
adunqua ne convene
aconciar a bene voglia ed usanza,
se volem benenanza ;
che non e ben se da ben non e nato,
c' ogni gioia di pecato
e mesta con dolore, e fine male,
ed ogni cosa vale
da fine suo, che n' e dunque amoroso.
Come al lavorator la zappa e data,
e dato il mondo a noi ; non per gaudere,
ma per esso eternal vita aquistare ;
e non 1' alma a lo corpo e gia criata,
ma '1 corpo all' alma, e 1' alma a Dio piacere,
che noi lui piu che noi dovemo amare
e im pria ch' istessi noi am5 noi esso !
e se ne disamammo e demmo altrui
di se medesmo racattdne poi.
Ai lasso, perche avem 1' alma si vile?
gia 1' e ben si gientile
che prese, per trar lei d' eternal morte,
umanitate, e mort' e.
Abiam la dunque cara, ed esso amiamo
ove tutto troviamo
cid che pud nostro cuor disiderare ;
ne mai altro pagare
ne pud gia, che lo ben c' a. noi promesso.
Oi, sommo Ben, da cui ben tutto e nato,
oi luce, per qual vede ogni visagio,
o sapienza, onde sa ciascun sagio,
neiente feci me, tu mi ricrii,
disviai me, tu me rinvii,
ed orbai me, tu m' ai lume renduto j
ci6 non m* a conceduto
iUTLKR JJ
98 FRA GUITTONE D'AREZZO
mio merito, ma la tua gran bontate.
Oi somma maestate,
quanto laudar amar servir de' tee
dimostra ancor a mee,
e fa c' a ci6 tutto mio cor sia dato.
A messer Cavalcante, a messer Lapo,
va, mia canzone; e di lor c' audit' agio
che '1 sommo ed inorato sengnoragio
pungnan di conquistar, tornando a vita ;
e se tu sai gli aita,
e di che '1 coninzar ben cher tuttore
mezzo e fine melgliore,
e prende onta 1' alma e '1 corpo tornare
al mal ben cominzare ;
per6 afermino lor core a volere
seguire ongni volere
di quelli ca per tutto e nostro capo.
XLVIII
Comune perta fa comun dolore,
e comune dolore comun pianto,
perche chere onni bon pianger ragione.
Perduto a vero suo padre valore
e pregio, amico bono e grande manto,
e valente ciascun suo compagnone,
Giacomo da Leona, in te, bel frate.
O che crudele amaro(re) ed amaro
ne la perdita tua gustar dea core
che gust6 lo dolzore
dei dolci e veri tuoi magni conduttT,
che pascendo bon ghiotti
(V.R.V.)
FRA (JUITTONE D'AREZZO 99
lo valente valor tuo cucinava,
e pascieva e sanava
catun mondan ver gusto e viso chiaro,
sentendo d' essi ben la bonitate.
Tu, frate mio, vero bon trovatore
in piana ed in sotile rima e (cara)
ed in soavi e saggi e cari motti,
francesca lingua e proensal labore
piCi de 1' artina e bene in te, che chiara
la parlasti e trovasti in modi totti.
Tu sonatore e cantator gradivo,
sentitor bono e parlador piacente,
dittator chiaro ed avenente e retto,
adorno e bello aspetto,
cortese lingua e costumi avenenti
piacenteri e piacenti,
dato fu te tutto cib solamente
Non die' alcun dunque troppo t' onori
acciocche non tu om di gran nazione;
che quanto piu e vil, (men e) car priso
omo quello, li cui antecessori
fur di valente e nobil condizione.
Se valor segue onor poco 1' aviso ;
se figlio di destrier destrieri vale,
non e gran cosa, e non n' e lausor magno,
ma magna e onta se ronzin somiglia ;
ma ci6 e maraviglia
e cosa magna se di ronzin vene
che destrieri val bene,
h 2
ioo FRA OUITTONE D'AREZZO
e tal' e da orrar sovra destrero
bass' omo, che altero
a core e senno, ed or se fa da stagno ;
ond' e ver degno d' aver pregio tale.
Non ver lignaggio fa sangue, ma core,
ne vero pregio poder, ma vertute;
e si grazia ed amor, e appo sciente,
sol pregio e giente,
nullo o parvo e pregio in ben di fore,
ma ne li interiore ;
che dov' om e per cui lo pregio V onta
le piii fiate [de]smonta,
a valore ed a pregio ed a salute,
bealta, domo, lignaggio, e riccore.
CHIARO DAVANZATI
XLIX
Gravosa dimoranza
faccio, poiche 'n disparte
convierrmi contro a voglia dimorare,
metendo la speranza
la 've non agio parte,
altro che solamente tormentare ;
da poi non vegio possasi partire
da me punto languire,
pin disiando la dov' agio spera ;
penando trovo fera
per me pieta, e la merce calare.
Se '1 dimoro ch' eo faccio
col pensier non m' alena
la mia vita pud durare poco ;
Mon.)
CHIARO DAVANZATI 101
meglio e la morte avaccio
che vivendo con pena;
forse nel altro mondo avragio gioco,
che lo tormento in esto mondo avere
e per 1' altro tenere
^ — \j — d' ongni bono membrato,
secondo io vegio usato ;
ma per me, lasso, so ch' e tutto foco.
Dunque voria partire
se '1 mio cor concedesse,
ricanosciendo mio meglioramento ;
ma non mi val seguire,
tant' a sue voglie messe
in altro loco, ov' e suo piacimento.
Pero d' amor voria fosse in usanza
omo quand' a pesanza
che (vi) trovasse la pieta incarnata,
quando fosse chiamata
secondo opera che desse tormento.
Se 'n disperar dimoro
da tutto mio disio
e di tornar non agio libertate,
de lo talento moro,
che sanza lo cor mio
nom posso dimorar a le contrade;
e la valente in cui mess' agio intenza
s' eo non veio in presenza
non pote gioi' aver gia la mia vita,
ma di crudel ferita
conven morir con fera iniquitate.
Or dunque, canzonetta,
poi di lontana via
(ritorno) conven fare a 1' avenente,
102 CHIARO DAVANZATI
dille che [altro] non aspetta
la speranza mia
solo che lei vedere di presente ;
e quest' e cio laond' io riprendo gioia
de la mia pena e noia,
atendendomi a lei tosto redire,
se non torna in fallire
lo mio pemsier alegro sovenente.
D' un' amorosa voglia mi convene
cantare alegramente, rimembrando
com' io partivi da la donna mia,
ca dolzemente mi dicea abrazando :
' Se vai, mio sire, non agie 'n obria
tornare a 1' amoroso nostro1 bene,
ma rinmembra lo nostro fin diporto
a cid che di tornar agie volglienza;
prendi lo core e me ne la tua balgiia,
si che mi porti avanti tua presenza,
dipinta in core, com' io sono in talglia :
di simile voler faragio porto.'
Io, abraciando 1' amorosa ciera,
basgiando dolzemente le parlai :
' Gientil mia gioia, in voi e la mia vita,
altra speranza non avragio mai
che solamente de la mia redita
a voi che sete del mio cor lomera.'
Ed ella a se mi strinse immantinente :
' Dolze mio sire, a Dio sia acomandato ;
da mi tua fe' presente di tornare.'
1 qy. vostro.
CHIARO DAVANZATI 103
Ed io lei die', piangiendo lo comiato ;
disele : ' Amor meo, non ti sconfortare,
membra che la tornata fia presente.'
Cosi partiva de lo mio diletto ;
canto, che mi sovien de 1' amorosa,
e dolglio forte de lo dipartire.
Pertanto che lo so che m' e gravosa,
cosi fosse cangiato in un (vedere)
che fosse in sicurta de lo dispetto ;
pertanto mi soverchi 1' alegranza
membrandomi la gioia che avemo insembra.
Quand' io veragio a simile disio?
che di null' altra cosa piu mi membra
che di tornar cola donde partio,
che di gioia torni doppia la speranza.
(V.R.V.)
LI
Di lungia parte aduciemi 1' amore
ispesso gioia e pena, rimembrando
ch' io son lontan da tutto mio disio :
la mente non e meco ne lo core,
che 1' avenente 1' ave in suo comando,
ed eo quant' agio tengnol da lei im fio,
di che dimeno gioia ed alegranza,
rimembrando de la sua gran bieltate,
e che le piacie ch' io le sia servente;
e di quest' agio dolglia com pesanza,
ch' io son disparte di quelle contrate
cola dove dimora 1' avenente.
L' avenente e '1 mio cor fan compagnia,
e chiamano la mente e 1' intelletto
che vengnano a veder chi sengnor n' era,
io4 CHIARO DAVANZATI
e chi per amor prese la balia
del piu piagiente e nobile diletto
che fosse mai in null' altra riviera ;
c' amanti son c' an gioia ricieputa,
ma non che ver la mia sian di paragio.
Di cid piu doppiamente agio dolglienza,
che senza pene mi fu concieduta
per umilita, non gia per oltragio,
da 1' avenente in cui rengna valenza.
Per6 dolglio, no mi posso alegrare,
che quanto piu sent' io di piacimento,
cotanto piu mi dole la dimora,
ch' io son disparte sanza lei parlare,
che di null' altra cosa e pensamento
che lo tornare, quando sia quell' ora
ch' io raquisti lo tempo c' 6 perduto,
e metta in obrianza le mie pene
c' agio portate per lei non vedere ;
che son di cid pensando divenuto
natural com' el cieciero divene,
che termina cantando lo spiaciere.
Dolze rivera gaia ed amorosa,
diletto sovra tute la sovrana,
porto di gioie e di valore orata,
d' adornamento e di graze abondosa,
gentil terra sovr' ongne altra Pisana,
ove lo presgio compie sua giornata,
perche son prolungato, oime lasso,
e facievi '1 meo core dimoranza,
e P avenente da cui tengno vita,
che chiamo lo suo nome ad ongne passo,
e' par che ne solevi mia pesanza
pensando solamcnte la redita.
CHIARO DAVANZATI 105
Di cio mi ricomforto e noni dispero
pensando ne la sua rica acolglienza,
che mi de' far tornandole davanti ;
e 1' adorneze del suo viso altero
faran redire in gioia la mia dolglienza
e li martiri c' agio avuti tanti.
Pero, mia canzonetta, a lei t' invia,
inchinala e saluta dolzemente,
dille ch' io credo in gioia ristorare
presente ch' io vedro sua sengnoria ;
sovr' ongni amante credo esser gaudente,
onde fratanto degia comfortare.
(V.R.V.)
LII
Ai dolze e gaia terra Fiorentina,
fontana di valore e di piagienza,
fior dell' altre, Fiorenza,
qualunque a. piu saver ti ten reina;
formata fue di Roma tua semenza,
e da Dio solo data la dotrina,
che per lucie divina
lo re Fiorin ci spese sua potenza,
ed ebe in sua seguenza
conti e marchesi, prencipi e baroni,
gientil d' altre w — v^ — rasgioni ;
ciesati fuor d' orgoglio e villania
miser lor baronia,
a cio che fossi de 1' altre magiore.
Come fosti ordinata primamente
da sei baroni che piu avean d' altura,
e ciascun pose cura
ver sua parte com fosse piu piacientt,
io6 CHIARO DAVANZATI
da San Giovanni avesti sua figura,
i bei costumi dal fior de la giente,
da' savi il convenente,
im planeta di Leo piu sicura,
di villania fuor pura,
di piacimento e di valore orata,
in sana aira ed in gioia formata,
diletto d' ongni bene ed abondosa,
gientile ed amorosa,
imperadricie d' ongni cortesia.
Ai me, Fiorenza, che e rimembrare
lo grande stato e la tua franchitate
c' 6 detta, ch' e 'n viltate
disposta ed abassata, ed im penare
somessa, e sottoposta im fedeltate,
per li tuoi figli collo rio portare,
che per non perdonare
1' un 1' altro,. t' anno messa in basitate.
Ai me, o lassa, dov' e lo savere
e '1 presgio e lo valore e la francheza,
la tua gran gientileza?
credo che dorme e giacie in mala parte.
Chi 'm prima disse 'parte'
fra li tuoi figli, tormentato sia.
Fiorenza, [nom] posso dir che sei sforita
ne ragionar che 'n te sia cortesia;
chi non s' adomilia,
gia sua bonta nom puote esser gradita.
Non se' piu tua, ne ai la segnoria,
anzi se' disorata ed aiinita
ed ai perduta vita,
che messa t' a ciascuno in schiavonia ;
CHIARO DAVANZATI 107
da 1' un tuo filglio due volte donata
per 1' altro consumare e dar dolore,
e per 1' altro a sengnore
se' oramai, e donera' gli il fio.
Non val chiedere a Uio
per te merze, Fiorenza dolorosa.
Ke e moltipricato in tua statura
astio, envidia, noia e strugimento,
orgolglioso talento,
avarizia, pigrizia e losura;
e ciascuno ch' e in te a pensamento
e' studia sempre di voler usura;
di Dio non an paura,
ma sieguen sempre a desiar tormento ;
li picioli, i mezani e li magiori
anno altro in cor che nom mostran di fora.
Per contrado lavora ;
onde '1 sengnor Idio, pien di pietate,
per sua nobilitate
ti riconduca a la verace via.
(V.R.V. Mon.1
LI 1 1
Non gia per gioia c' agia mi conforto,
ma perch' io vegio un om morto d: amore
per dritto amar ed esser servidore
a suo poter di donna tuttavia ;
c' ormai le donne che '1 vedranno morto
ciascuna piu pietanza avranno in core,
vegiendo per asempro lo dolore
del buono amante chi '1 tene in obria.
108 CHIARO DAVANZATI
ciascuna credera veraciemente
quello, onde sono state miscredente,
che null' om possa per amor morire.
Cos! fosse piaciuto a 1' alto Sire
che la donna per cui mort' e 1' amante
fosse essa morta per colui avante,
perche ciascuna fosse poi credente.
In tanto posso de 1' amor mesdire
quant' a mort' un per lealmente amare,
e noil' a gia voluto accompagnare ;
ca, se fosse, saria piu gioia la morte,
c' a 1' amante faria magior disire
se la donna co lui al trapassare
d' esto secol com' ei vedesse andare ;
gia lo morir nol gli saria si forte,
e gli amador che gioia van no sperando
non viverian languendo piu tardando,
che 1' altre donne non avrian dottanza
e moverian lor cori a piu pietanza,
vegiendo d' agualglianza il guiderdone
del danno, e '1 prd la ove amor li pone ;
e credo a lor varia merze chiamando.
Ancor d' un' altra cosa amor riprendo ;
da poi due ne congiungie in un piaciere,
1' un pur tormenta e facielo dolere,
e 1' altra non costringie di paragio ;
e molti n' audo van di cio dolendo,
che non acompie mai lo lor volere,
da poi ch' e morto, che val lo potere?
ci6 c' a sperato puot' om dir danagio.
Perd, s' amor piaciesse, crederia
che piu valor e presgio gli saria
CHIARO DAVANZATI 109
s' amendasse di cio c' agio contato,
ancor che gientil cor lungo aspetato
non dispera per lunga soferenza ;
ma de 1' amor mi credo piu valenza
fora il donar la 've '1 mistier piu sia.
Alchun porami dir : folle, che fai ?
riprendi amor; non a. conoscimento.
Risponderd : si a e' valimento
c' aucide ed altoregia cui li piacie;
che me fatt' a. sentir de li suoi guai,
ma a ritenuto a se lo piacimento,
a tal m' a dato e messo in servimento.
Tardando assai languir forte mi facie,
per6 che lungiare po la mia vita;
se non provede nanti che perita
sara, che mi vara, di poi pentere?
gitto a mio danno '1 parlar e '1 vedere,
e se mia vita rengna per languire
e non mi dona, me' fora fallire,
se '1 suo valore di gioia non m' invita.
Va, canzonetta, a chi sente d' amore,
che degia Dio pregar per 1' amadore
ch' e morto e d' esta vita e trapassato, '
c' ajuti lui ed ongni namorato,
c' a le donne umili loro dureza,
c' a loro amanti donin piu largheza,
non sempre sia lor vita con dolore.
(V.R.V. Tr. Mon.)
BONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA
LIV
Quando appar Y aulente fiore,
lo tempo dolze e sereno,
gli auscelletti infra gli albori
ciascun canta in suo latino ;
per lo dolze canto e fino
si confortan gli amadori,
quelli c' aman lealmente,
ed eo, lasso, no rifino
per quella, che lo meo core
va pensoso infra la giente.
Per quella che m' a 'n balia
ed a d' amore con qui so,
va pensoso notte e dia,
per quella col chiaro viso.
Co' riguardi e '1 dolce riso
m' a lanciato e mi distringie
la piu dolze criatura,
lasso, quando m' ebbe priso;
d' amor tuttor mi s' infingie,
pare di me non a cura.
Cogli sguardi mi conquiso
(a,) parlando, ond' io mi doglio,
lasso, quando m' ebbe preso
or mi va menando orgoglio.
Adunque partir mi voglio
d' amore e di suo servirc,
e de li falsi riguardi,
e sara ci6 ch' io nom soglio,
o fin amor mantenere
per quella che tutto m' ardi.
BONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA m
Ben me ne voria partire
s' umque lo potesse fare,
m' adoblaran li martire,
non ne poria in cid campare.
Dumqua mi convene stare
a la sua dolze speranza,
e non esser argoglioso,
ma tuttor merze chiamare ;
forse ne vera, pietanza
a quella al viso amoroso.
Canzonetta dolze e fina,
va, saluta la piu giente,
va ne a quella ch' e regina
di tutti gli insegnamente.
Da mia parte t' apresenta
e si la chiama merzede
che non degia piu sofrire
ch' io patisca esti tormente,
ca rimembrando m' auzide,
e d' amor mi fa languire.
(V.R.V.)
LV
Tal e la fiamma e lo foco
la ond' eo 'ncendo e coco,
dolce meo sire,
che ismarrire
mi fate lo core e la mente.
Ismarrire mi fate la mente e lo core,
si che tutta per voi mi distruggo e disfaccio,
cosi come si sface la rosa e lo fiore
quando la sovragiungie freddura ne ghiaccio;
Ti2 BONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA
cosi son preso a lo laccio
per la stranianza vostra in prumera,
come la fera
amorosa di tutta la gente.
Tant' e 'I foco e la fiamma ch' el meo cor abonda,
che non credo che mai si poss' astutare;
e non e nullo membro che no mi confonda
e non vegio per arte ove possa campare,
com' quel che cade al mare,
che non k sostegno ne ritenenza
per la 'ncrescenza
de 1' onda che vede frangente.
Se mi sete si fero com parete in vista
e nojoso secondo la ria dimostranza,
ancidetemi adesso, ch' io vivo piu trista
che quando morta fosse, tant' 6 gran dottanza ;
se la bona speranza
ch' eo agio di voi mi rinfrangesse,
s' eo m' aucidesse
serestene poi penitente.
Io non v' oso guardare ne 'n viso ne 'n ciera,
n& mostrarvi sembianti com fare solea;
che mi fate una vista mortale, crudera,
com' eo fosse di voi nemica giudea;
ed esser non dovria,
perch' io ci colpasse ; che la casgione
de 1' ofensione
non fu che m' ontasse niente.
(Mon.)
BONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA 113
LVI
Gioia ne ben non e sanza conforto,
ne sanza ralegranza,
ne ralegranza sanza fino amore.
Rasgion, chi vuol venir a buono porto
de la sua disianza,
che 'n amoranza metta lo suo core ;
che per lo fior' si de' sperar lo frutto
e per amor ci6 ch' e desiderato ;
perche 1' amor e dato
a gioia ed a disdutto sanza inganno,
ma se patisse inganno fora strutto
lo ben d' amor, ch' e tanto confermato,
ne fora disiato,
s' avesse men di gioia che d' afanno.
Tant' e la gioia, lo presgio e la valenza,
la 'ntendenza e 1' onore
e lo valore e '1 fino insegnamento,
che nascon d' amorosa canoscienza,
(che) non e prenditore
(senz' essi) amor' di veracie empimento;
ma fallimento fora a comquistare
sanza affanar cosi gran dilettanza;
ca per la soperchianza
vive in oranza quei che s' umilia.
Chi gioia non da nom p6 gioia acquistare,
ne bene amar chi non a in se leanza,
ne compier la speranza
chi non lascia di quel che piii disia.
Perche sera fallire a dismisura
a la pintura andare
chi puo mirare la propia sostanza ;
ii4 BONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA
che di bel giorno 6 vista notte scura
contra natura fare,
ed apportar lo bene in malenanza.
Perche bastanza fora, donna mia,
se cortesia e merze in voi trovasse,
che 1' afanno passasse,
e ritornasse in gioia ed im piacere ;
che troppo soferir mi contraria,
com om ch' e 'n via per gir, che dimorasse
ne 'nnanti non andasse,
ne ritornasse, contro a suo volere.
Voler agio e speranza d' avanzare
lo meo 'ncominzamento,
per tal convento, che voi sia piagiente ;
e ben volesse a retro ritornare
contra lo mio talento,
ne valimento n' agio ne podere,
cosl mi fere 1' amor che m' a priso
del vostro viso giente ed amoroso,
per cui vivo gioioso
e disioso si che moro amando.
E ci6 ch' io dico null' e gio', m' e aviso,
si m' a comquiso e fatto pauroso
1' amore c' agio ascoso,
ch' io piu non oso dire a voi parlando.
(V.R.V.,
LVII
Fin amor mi comforta,
e lo cor m' intalenta,
madonna, ch' io no m penta
di voi s' inamorai ;
BONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA 115
membrando cio che porta
la vita n' e contenta,
avengna ch' io ne senta
tormento pur assai.
che 'mprimamente amai
per ben pregare al vostro segnoragio
d' aver fermo coragio,
a cio che per fermeza non dottasse
che '1 meo labor fallasse;
e chi 'ncominza a mezo compimento
se sa perseverar (n)e lo suo adopramento.
Ed io perseverando
la rica incomincianza
condott' 6 la speranza
al giorno c' aspettava;
non cierto dispresgiando ;
ne voi contra noranza
cometeste fallanza,
ch' io no la dimandava;
che cio ch' io disiava
non era fuor di buono intendiniento,
m' a vostro acrescimento ;
ne a bona donna non si sconvene
s' amor la sforza bene ;
che tal val molto che nulla varia
per inamoramento di donna che golia.
Ond' io non mi dispero
di cio c' amor mi facie
che guerra non a pacie
ne amor conoscimento.
se non 6 cio che chero
faro come chi tacie
1 2
n6 KONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA
la cosa che li spiacie
per fino intendimento.
E si sero contento
cosi del male e delle grevi pene
como saria del bene;
c' amor a in se ben tuto sengnoragio
che mi pub dar coragio;
o 1' ire c' ave e le pene e la noia
mi poria ritornare in suo piacere e gioco.
(V.R.V.)
LVIII
Ben mi credeva in tutto esser d' amore
certamente allungiato;
si m' era fatto selvaggio e straniero !
or sento che 'n erranza era il mio core,
che non m' avia ubliato
ne riguardato il mio coragio fero ;
poiche servo m' ha dato per servire
a quella a cui grandire
si pud somma piacenza
e somma conoscenza;
che tutte gioie di beltate ha vinto,
si come grana vince ogn' altro tinto.
Tant' allegrezza nel meo core abonda
di si alto servaggio,
che m' ha e tiemmi tutto in suo volere,
che non posa giammai se non com' onda,
membrando il suo visaggio,
ch' ammorza ogni altro viso e fa sparere
in tal maniera che la V ella appare
nessun la puo guardare,
e mettelo in errore;
tant' e lo suo splendore
BONAGIUNTA DA LUCCA 117
che passa il sole, di vertute spera,
e Stella e luna ed ogn' altra lumera.
Amor, lo tempo ch' era senza amanza,
mi sembra in veritate,
ancor vivessi, ch' era senza vita !
che viver senz' amor non e baldanza
ne possibilitate
d' alcun pregio acquistar di gioia gradita :
onde fallisce troppo oltra misura
qual huom non s' innamora;
ch' amor ha in se vertude,
del vile huom face prode ;
s' egli e villano, in cortesia lo muta,
di scarso largo addivenir 1' aiuta.
Ciascuna guisa d' amor graziosa,
secondo la natura
che vien di gentil loco, ha in se valore ;
com' arbore quando e fruttiferosa,
qual frutto e piu in altura
avanza tutti gli altri nel savore ;
onde la gioia mia passa 1' ottima
quant' e piu d' alta cima ;
di cui si puo dir bene
fontana d' ogni bene,
che di lei sorge ogn' altro ben terreno,
come acqua viva che mai non vien meno.
Dunque m' allegro certo a gran rasione,
ch' io mi posso allegrare,
poi sono amato ed amo si altamente ;
anzi in servir mi trovo guiderdone
si soave umiliare
ver me, per darmi gioia, 1' avvenente ;
n8 BONAOIUNTA DA LUCCA
per6 piu graziosa e la mia gioia,
ch' allaccia senza noia;
che non e costumanza ;
cosl gran dilettanza
amore giammai desse a nullo amante,
per6 m' allegro senza simigliante.
Considerando tutto quel ch' e detto
a quel ch' e a dir rispetto,
e 1' ombra al mio parere;
che non mi par sapere
se di sua forma parlare volessi ;
che solo un membro laudare compiessi.
Giunta.)
PUCCIANDONE MARTELLI DA PISA
LIX
Tuttor agg' io di voi rimembranza
e disianza, donna mia valente.
Tuttor mi membra e disio vedere
la piacente belta, donna amorosa,
che 'n voi fa porto con tutto savere,
cera avenente, fresca e graziosa ;
la rimembranza tenemi in piacere
e lo disio 'n gran pena angosciosa,
se non ti vedo, disiato amore,
in cui lo core tegno con la mente.
Quando vi veo, donna, in cui speranza
tegno con tutta fina benvoglienza,
aggio allegranza, gioia, e beninanza,
e donami valor con gran piacenza
PUCCIANDONE MARTELLI DA PISA 119
la vostra angelicale sembianza,
che 'nver mi fate, senza percepenza
delli noiosi e delli mal parliedi
che di voi e di me parlan vilmente.
Poi de' sembianti tant' aggio allegrezza,
ben averia, osasselo mostrare;
lo mio disio fermat' ho 'n tale altezza
che di gran gioia viver6 senza pare ;
pregovi per la vostra gentilezza
che non vi spiaccia lo meo 'nnamorare :
quando mi donerete piu podere
meglio servire vi por5 sovente.
Entr' alio cor m' entrao con tal dolzore
lo primo sguardo di voi, donna mia,
che m' infiammao di tanto fino amore,
che monta in me cosi ciascuna dia ;
che 'n nulla guisa, donna di valore,
a compimento contar lo poria :
lingua che parli tant' aggia (abandono)
com' io sono ver voi lealmente.
Ben mi laudo d' amor, che m' ha donato
voler cotanto altero intendimento,
che m' ha di tale donna inamorato,
ch' ell' e somma di tutto intendimento;
poiche si altamente m' ha locate,
faccia che piaccia lo meo servimento
a quella ch' in sua balia mi tene,
e la mia spene v' aggio interamente.
(Val.)
120
GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA
LX
Donna, 1' amor mi sforza
ch' io vi degia contare
com' io son 'namorato,
e ciascun giorno inforza
la mia volglia d' amare,
pur foss' io meritato.
Sacciate in veritate,
ca si e preso '1 mio core
di voi, incarnato amore,
che moro di pietate,
e consumar lo fate
in gran fuoco ed ardore.
Nave ch' escie di porto
con vento dolze e piano,
fra mar giungie in altura ;
po' ven lo tempo torto,
tempesta e grande affano
1' aducie la ventura,
alor si sforza molto
come possa scampare
che nom perisca in mare;
cosi 1' amor m' a col to
e di buon loco tolto
e messo a tempestare.
Madonna, udit' 6 dire
che 'n aira nascie fuoco
per incontrar di venti,
se non more in venire
GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA 12 1
in nuvoloso loco
ard(isc)e inmantenente
ci6 che (si) trova iloco
cosi le nostre volglie
a contrare s' acolglie,
la onde nascie un fuoco
lo qual si stiza urn poco
in lagrime ed in doglie.
Greve cosa e servire
segnor contro a talento,
e sperar guiderdone
e mostrare im parere
che sia gioia il tormento
contro a suo openione.
Dunque si de' gradire
di me, che volglio fare
e chirlanda portare
per vostro orgoglio ed ire,
purche possa valere ;
ma credo pingier 1' are.
A pingier 1' aer son dato,
poi c' a tal sono adotto ;
laboro e non aquisto.
Lasso, che non m' e a grato
c' amor m' a. a tal condotto !
fra gli altri son piu tristo.
Oi ! sengnor Giesu Cristo,
fu' io per ci6 solo nato,
per stare inamorato?
poi madonna 1' a visto,
melgli' e ch' io mora in quisto ;
forse n' avria pecato.
(V.R.V.)
T22 GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOCXA
LXI
Madonna, il fino amore ch' io vi porto
mi dona si gran gioia ed allegranza
c' aver mi par d' amore;
ca d' ogni parte aduciemi comforto,
quando di voi mi membra 1' intendanza,
a farmi da valore
a cio che la natura mia mi mena,
ad esser di voi fina
d' amor distrettamente inamorato;
ne mai in altro lato
amor mi pu6 dar fino piacimento,
anzi d' aver m' allegra ogni tormento.
Dare allegranza amorosa natura
sanz' esser 1' omo a dover gioia compiere,
inganno mi somiglia;
c' amore quand' e di propia ventura
di sua natura a dover a '1 morire,
cos! gran foco pilglia :
ed io, che son di tale amor sorpreso,
tengnomi a grave meso,
che nom so che natura degia complire;
se no c' audit' 6 dire
che quello male a periglioso inganno,
che V omo a far diletta e porta danno.
Sotile voglia mi potria mostrare
come di voi m' a preso amore amaro,
ma ci6 dire non volglio,
ca 'n tutte guise degiovi laudare.
Pero piCi spietosa ven declaro
se biasimo ven tolglio;
GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA 123
e fiavi forse men danno a sofrire,
c' amor poi fa bandire
c' a tutta scanoscienza sia in bando,
e sol ritrae '1 comando
a P acusanza ' di colui c' a '1 male ;
ma voi non blasmeria ; istea sevale.
Madonna, da voi tengno ed 6 il valore,
perd m' avene, istandovi presente,
ca perdo ogni vertute ;
che le cose propinque al suo fatore
ritornar volontieri e tostamente
per gir ov' en nasciute :
da me fanno partute e vanne in voi
la 've son tutte e plui j
e ci6 vedemo fare a ciascheduno,
che si mette in comuno
piii volontera degli assai2 e boni,
che no sta solo, se ria parte n' oponi.
In quella parte sotto tramontana
sono gli monti della calami ta,
che dan vertute all' are
di trar lo ferro, ma perch' e lontana
vol di simile petra aver 1' aita
per farla adoperare
si, che P ago si driza ver la Stella.
E voi pur siete quella
che presedete i monti del valore
onde si spande amore,
e gia per lontananza non e vano,
che senza aita adopera lontano.
1 qy. scusanza. 2 qy. saggi.
i24 OUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA
Ai Deo ! como faragio ed in che guisa ?
che ciascun giorno canto all' avenente,
ne 'ntender me non pare,
ne in lei non trovo bona alcuna intesa
com' eo possa mandar umilemente
a lei merze chiamare;
e saccio ch' eo ne porto sagio fino,
c' amor che m' a. in dimino
mostra c' ongni parola ch' io fuor porto
porti uno core morto,
feruto a la sconfitta del mio core
che fugie la batalglia, e vince amore.
Madonna, le paraule in ci6 ch' io dico
pur mostrano ch' in me sia dismisura
d' ogni forfalsitate,
che non trovo merze ('n> ci6 che fatico,
ne par c' amor per me possa drittura
for vostra potestate;
e nom posso sentire onde m' avene,
se non ch' io pemso bene
c' amor ave reposta in voi amanza ;
e credolo in ciertanza
ch' ello vi dica: tello 'namorato,
ch' ell' afini ; poi moia disamato.
D' ora in avanti parto lo cantare
da me, ma non 1' amare ;
e sia omai in vostra canoscienza
lo don di benvolenza ;
che credo aver per voi tanto inarato;
se ben si paga, molto e V aquistato.
(V.R.V.)
GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA 125
LXII
Tengnol di folle impresa, a lo ver dire,
chi s' abandona inver troppo possente,
sicomo gli occhi miei che fen resmire
incontra quei della pift avenente;
che sol per lor en vinti
senza c' altre bellezze li dian forza,
c' a cio fare son pinti
sicome baronia di sengnore,
quando vuol usar forza,
tutta s' apresta in donarli valore.
Di si forte valor lo colpo venne
che gli occhi nol ritenner di neente,
ma passo dentro al cor, che lo sostenne
e sentesi piagato duramente;
e poi li rende pace,
come troppo agravato, che si posa
e more in letto e giace;
ella non mette cura di niente,
ma vassen disdegnosa,
che si vede alta, bella ed avenente.
Ben si pu6 tener alta quanto vole,
che la piii bella donna e che si trove,
ed intra 1' altre par lucente sole
e falle disparer a tutte prove ;
che 'n lei enno adornezze,
gentilezze, savere e bel parlare
e sovrane bellezze,
tutto valor in lei par che si metta ;
posso in breve contare —
madonna e delle donne gioia eletta.
126 GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA
Ben e eletta gioia da vedere
quand' appar entra 1' altre piu adoma,
che tutta la rivera fa lucere
e ci6 che 1' e d' incierchio allegro torna;
la notte s' apariscie,1
come lo sol di giorno da splendore,
cosi 1' aer solarisce ;
ond' el giorno ne porta grand' enveggia,
ch' ei solo avea clarore,
ora la notte igualmente i pareggia.
Amor m' a. dato a madonna servire;
o vogli' io o non voglia, cosi este ;
ne saccio certo ben ragion vedere
sicomo sia caduto a 'ste tempeste ;
da lei non 6 sembiante
ed ella non mi fa vista amorosa
perch' eo divengn' amante,
se non per dritta forza di valore
che la rende gioiosa ;
onde mi piace morir per su' amore.
(Val. Nan. Mon.,
LXIII
Con gran disio pensando lungamente
amor che cosa sia,
e donde e come prende movimento
deliberar mi par infra la mente
per una cotal via
che per tre cose sente compimento;
ancorch' e fallimento
volendo ragionare
di cosi grande affare,
1 qy. si spariscic.
GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA 127
ma scusami ch' io si fortemente
sento li suoi tormente, ond' io mi doglio.
E' par che di verace piacimento
lo fino amor discenda,
guardando quel c' al cor torni piacente
che poi c' om guarda cosa di talento?
al cor pensieri abbenda,
e cresce con disio immantinente,
e poi dirittamente
fiorisce e mena frutto ;
pero mi sento isdutto,
P amor crescendo fiori e frutti a messe,
e vien la messe, e '1 frutto non ricoglio
Di cio prender dolore deve e pianto
lo core inamorato
e lamentar di sua disaventura ;
perocche nulla cosa all' uomo e tanto
gravoso riputato
che sostenere afanno e gran tortura,
servendo per calura
d' essere meritato,
e poi lo suo pensato
non a compita la sua disianza
e per pietanza trova pur orgoglio.
Orgoglio mi mostrate. donna fina,
ed io pietanza chero
a voi, che tutte cose, al mio parvente
dimorano a piacere ; a voi s' inchina
vostro servente, e spero
ristoro aver di voi, donna valente ;
che avvene spessamente
i28 GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA
che '1 ben servire a grato
non e rimeritato ;
allotta che '1 servente aspetta bene
tempo rivene che merta ogni scoglio.
(Val. Nan.)
LXIV
Al cor gentil ripara sempre amore
com alia selva augello in la verdura ;
ne fe amor anzi che gentil core,
ne gentil core anzi d' amor natura,
c' adesso che fu 1 il sole
si tosto lo splendore fu lucente,
ne fu davanti al sole ;
e prende amor in gentilezza loco
cosi propiamente
come chiarore in clarita di foco.
Foco d' amor in gentil core aprende,
come vertute in pietra preziosa,
che alia Stella valor non discende
anzi che '1 sol la faccia gentil cosa ;
poiche n' a tratto fore
per forza il sole cid che 'n ell' e vile,
Stella li da valore;
cosi al cor ch' e fatto da natura
schietto, puro e gentile
donna a guisa di Stella lo 'namora.
Amor per tal ragion sta in cor gentile
per qual lo foco in cima del doppiero,
splendeli al suo diletto, claro, sottile,
non li sta in altra guisa, tant' c fero ;
1 qy. com fu.
GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA 129
per6 prava natura
rincontra amor come fa 1' aigua il foco,
caldo per la fredura ;
amor in cor gentil prende rivera
per suo consimil loco
come damas del ferro in la minera.
Fere lo sole il fango tutto '1 giorno,
vile riman, ne '1 sol perde calore;
disse orao altier : Gentil per schiatta torno ;
lui sembro al fango, al sol gentil valore;
che non de' dar om fe
che gientilezza sia fuor di coragio
in dengnita di re,
se da vertute non a gentil core;
com' aigua porta ragio,
e '1 ciel retien le stelle e lo splendore.
Splende in la intelligenzia del cielo
Deo creator piu ch' in nostri occhi '1 sole
quella intende '1 suo fattor oltre cielo,
lo ciel volgendo a lui obedir tole,
e com segue al primero
dal giusto Deo beato compimento,
cosi dar dovria il vero
la bella donna che negli occhi splende
del suo gentil talento
chi mai da lei ubidir non disaprende.
Donna, Deo mi dira : Che presumisti
(istando 1' alma mia a lui davanti),
il ciel passasti e fino a me venisti,
e desti in vano amor me per sembianti;
c' a me convien la laude,
e alia reina del reame dengno,
i3o GUIDO DI GUINIZELLO DA BOLOGNA
per cui cessa ogni fraude.
Dirli poria : Tenne d' angiel sembianza
che fosse del tuo rengno ;
non mi fu fallo s' io le posi amanza.
(V.R.V. Giunta, Mon. &c.)
ONESTO DA BOLOGNA
LXV
Ahime, lasso taupino ! altro che lasso
non posso dir, s' io sono a greve meso ;
sentomi '1 cor e ciascun membro preso
morir si forte ch' oltre a morte passo;
celar non posso pifi la greve noia,
tanto contr' a me poia
pena mortale e rea disaventura ;
per6 quanto piu dura
la vita mia piu soverchia il dolore :
male ad uopo meo m' a. creato amore.
SI m' ai tu fatto, amor, ad uopo meo
che m' e vergogna dir ci6 che m' incontra ;
tutto fui fatto solo a mia rincontra,
per6 nol chiamo amor, ma amaro e reo
per cui lo cor meo chiamo core morto,
ingiuriato a torto;
ed anche me chiamo per lui mal nato,
perch' e si sventurato
c' ogni mio membro si batte e s' adira,
piangono gli occhi e 1' anima sospira.
Piangere gli occhi e lagrimar tutt' ora
e di pianto bagnar tutto mio viso
ONESTO DA BOLOGNA 131
possono ben, guardando a me conquiso,
e per lo corpo lasso ove dimora
1' anima mia per forz' a sospirare,
che gli1 e morte lo stare
piu con lo corpo, c' arde piu che 'n foco,
e in nessun altro loco
potrebbe peggiorar sua condizione,
si m' a condotto amor contro a ragione.
Ragion non fa chi m' accusa e riprende,
che contro al mio voler amor mi mena;
ma chi non si conduol della mia pena
secondo umanita, pietade offende ;
dolor sente ciascun naturalmente,
che dovria tutta gente
gir per chiamar pieta. alia donna mia,
e quando va per via
dovria ciascun gridar : Merze, merzede,
che non m' ancida s' eo 1' amo di fede.
Di fede e di pieta, canzon, vestita
vatti alle donne e gettati a lor piede,
che preghin quella ch' ell' aggia merzede
un po' per Deo della mia lassa vita ;
di che Deo si com' ama pietate
condanna crudeltate,
la 'nde di ci6 assai piu me dogl' eo
con fede mia per Deo,
che in ogni parte a messo stato buono ;
ma quanto per me posso io gliel perdono.
1 w- l'-
K 2
(Val.)
132 ONESTO DA BOLOGNA
LXVI
La partenza che fo dolorosa
e gravosa piu d' altra m' aucide
per mia fede di voi, bel diporto.
Si m' aucide '1 partir doloroso
ch' eo non (oso) pur a pensare
al dolor che convienmi portare
nel mio core di vita pauroso:
per lo gravoso stato e dolente
lo qual sente : com dunque faraggio
m' aucideraggio per men disconforto.
S' eo mi dico di dar morte fera,
gioia stranera non vi paia audire;
ahi, null' omo ode il mio languire,
mea pena dogliosa e crudera
che dispera lo coraggio e V alma;
tanta salma a di pena e abbondanza,
poi pietanza a merzk-fece torto.
Torto fece, e falli ver me lasso,
ch' eo trapasso ogni amante leale;
ciascun giorno piu cresce piu sale
1' amor fino ch' eo porto nel casso,
e non lasso per null' increscenza,
che 'n sofrenza conviene che sia
chi disia 1' amoroso conforto.
Poi pietanza in altrui non si sciovra,
e s' adovra in altrui fuor che meve,
pianto mio, vanne a quella che deve
rimembrarsi di mia vita povra ;
ONESTO DA BOLOGNA 133
di che scovra ver me suo volere;
se 'n piacer 1' e ch' eo senta la morte,
a me forte gradisce esser morto.
(Giunta. Val. Nan.)
GUIDO CAVALCANTI DA FIRENZE
LXVII
Donna mi prega, perche voglio dire
d' un accidente che sovente e fero,
ed e si fero ch' e chiamato amore,
si che chi '1 nega possa il ver sentire.
Ed al presente conoscente chero,
perch' io non spero ch' om di basso core
a tal ragione porti conoscenza ;
che senza natural dimostramento
non ho talento di voler provare
la, dov' ei posa e chi lo fa criare,
e qual e sua vertute e sua potenza,
1' essenza, e poi ciascun suo movimento,
e '1 piacimento che '1 fa dir amare,
e s' omo per veder lo puo mostrare.
In quella parte dove sta memora
prende suo stato, si formato come
diafan dal lome, d' una oscuritate
la qual da Marte viene e fa dimora.
Egli e creato ed a sensato nome,
d' alma costume, e di cor volontate ;
vien da veduta forma che s' intende
che prende nel possibile intelletto
come in suggetto loco e dimoranza ;
in quella parte mai non a pesanza ',
1 qy. posanza, possanza.
134 GUIDO CAVALCANTI DA FIRENZE
perche da qualitate non discende;
risplende in se perpetuale affetto;
non a diletto, ma consideranza,
si che non pote largir somiglianza.
Non e vertute, ma da quella viene,
ch' e perfezione che si pone tale;
non razionale, ma che sente dico ;
fuor di salute giudicar mantiene,
e P intenzione per ragione vale;
discerne male in cui e vizio amico ;
di sua potenza segue spesso morte,
se forte la virtu fosse impedita,
la quale aita la contraria via ;
non perche opposto naturale sia,
ma quanto che da buon perfetto tort' e
per sorte, non pu6 dir om c' aggia vita,
che stabilita non a signoria;
a simil pu6 valor quand' om 1' oblia.
L' esser e, quando lo volere e tanto
c' oltra misura di natura torna;
poi non s' adorna di riposo mai,
move, cangiando core, riso e pianto,
e la figura con pietate stoma;
poco soggiorna; ancor di lui vedrai
che 'n gente di valor lo piu si trova;
la nuova qualita move i sospiri,
e vuol c' om miri non fermato loco,
destandosi ira la qual manda foco;
imaginar non pot' om che nol prova;
e non si mova perch' a lui si tiri,
e non si giri per trovarvi gioco,
ne certamente gran saver ne poco.
GUIDO CAVALCANTI DA FIRENZE 135
Di simil tragge complessione sguardo,
che fa parere lo piacere certo;
non pu6 coperto star quando e sorgiunto,
non gia selvagge le bilta son dardo,
che tal volere per temere e sperto;
consegue merto spirito ch' e punto;
e non si pu6 conoscer per lo viso,
c' om priso bianco in tal obietto cade,
e chi ben vade forma non li vede,
perche lo mena chi da lei procede
fuor di colore, d' essere diviso,
assiso in mezzo oscuro, luci rade ;
fuor d' ogni fraude dicer degno in fede,
che solo di costui nasce mercede.
Tu puoi sicuramente gir, canzone,
dove ti piace ; ch' i' 6 si t' adornata
c' assai lodata sara tua ragione
dalle persone c' anno intendimento ;
di star con 1' altre tu non ai talento.
(Giunta. Val. Nan. Mon)
LXVIII
Poiche di doglia cor convien ch' io porti,
e sento di piacere ardente foco,
che di vertu mi tragge a si vil loco,
diro com' 6 perduto ogni valore.
Io dico che miei spiriti son morti,
e '1 cor, c' a tanta guerra e vita poco ;
e se non fosse che '1 morir m' e gioco,
fare' ne di pieta piangere amore.
Ma per lo folle tempo che m' a giunto
mi cangio di mia ferma opinione
in altrui condizione;
136 GUIDO CAVALCANTI DA FIRENZE
si ch' io non mostro quanto io sento affanno
la. 'nd' io ricevo inganno ;
che dentro dello cor mi passa amanza,
che se ne porta tutta mia speranza.
(Giunta. Val. Nan.)
CINO DA PISTOIA
LXIX
Avegna ch' io non aggio piu per tempo
per voi richiesto pietate ed amore
per confortar la vostra greve vita,
non e ancor si trapassato il tempo
che '1 mio sermon non trovi il vostro core
piangendo star con 1' anima smarrita,
fra se dicendo : Gia te n' ei 'n ciel gita,
beata gioia, come chiamava il nome;
lasso me, quando e come
vedervi potr6 io visibilmente
si che ancora a presente
far i' vi possa di conforto aita?
dunque m' udite, ch' io parlo a posta
d' amor, alii sospir ponendo sosta.
Noi provamo che in questo cieco mondo
ciascun si vive in angosciosa noia;
chi non a avversita, Ventura il tira;
beata 1' alma che lascia tal pondo
e va nel ciel ov' e compiuta gioia,
gioioso il cor for di corrotto ed ira :
or dunque di che il vostro cor sospira,
che rallegrar si de' del suo maggiore?
che Dio nostro signore
volse di lei, com' avea 1' angel detto,
CINO DA PISTOIA 137
per fame il ciel perfetto;
per nova cosa ogni santo la mira,
ed ella sta dinanzi1 alia salute,
inver lei parla d' ogni sua vertute.
Di che vi stringe il cor? che pianto adopra?
che dovresti d' amor sopraggioire,
c' avete in ciel la mente e 1' intelletto;
li spirti vostri trapassar di sopra
per sua vertu nel ciel ; tale e '1 disire
c' amor la su li pinge per diletto.
O omo saggio, o Dio, perche distretto
vi tien cosi 1' affannoso pensiero?
per suo onor vi chero
c' allegramente prendiate conforto,
ne abbiate piu il cor morto,
ne figura di morte in vostro aspetto
per6 che Dio locata 1' a. fra i suoi,
e tuttora dimora ella con voi.
Conforto gia, conforto Y amor chiama,
e pieta prega, per Dio, fate presto;
or inchinate a si dolce preghiera,
spogliatevi di questa veste grama,
da che voi siete per ragion richiesto ;
che 1' omo per dolor muore e dispera.
Come vedrete poi la bella ciera
se v' accogliesse morte in disperanza?
da si greve pesanza
traete il vostro core omai, per Dio;
che non sia cosi rio
ver 1' alma vostra, che ancora ispera
vederla in cielo, star nelle sue braccia;
dunque di speme confortarvi piaccia.
1 qy. stando innanzi.
138 CINO DA PISTOIA
Mirate nel piacer ove dimora
la vostra donna ch' e in ciel coronata
ond' e la vostra speme in paradiso;
e tutta santa, ormai vostra, inamora
contemplando nel ciel dov' e locata;
il vostro cor per cui ista diviso,
che pinto tiene in se beato viso?
secondo ch' era qua giu maraviglia,
cosi lassu simiglia;
tanto piu quant' e me' conosciuta ;
come fu ricevuta
dagli angioli con dolce canto e riso,
gli spirti vostri rapportato 1' anno,
che spesse volte quel viaggio fanno.
Lassu parla di voi con que' beati,
e dice loro : ' Mentre ch' io fui
nel mondo ricevetti onor da lui,
laudando me ne' suoi detti laudati ' ;
e prega Dio lor * signor verace,
che vi conforti si come lui piace.
(Vil. Tr. D'A. & B.)
LXX
Degno son io ch' i' mora,
donna, quando vi mostro
ch' i' 6 degli occhi vostri amor furato ;
che certo si celato
men venni al lato vostro,
che non sapesti quando io 2 n' usci' fora ;
ed or perche davanti io non m' attento
mostrarlo in vista vera,
ben e ragion ch' io pera,
solo per questo mio folle ardimento :
1 qy. Io xb, . . . * qy. ei.
CINO DA P1STOIA 139
ch' io dovea innanzi, poi che cosi era,
sofrir ogni tormento,
che fame mostramento
a voi c' oltre a natura sete altera.
Ben son stato ozioso
poi ch' ho seguito quanto
mostrar ver me disdegno vi piacesse;
ma se non vi calesse
di mie follie alquanto,
destando il vostro cor non disdegnoso ;
perciocche questo amor c' allor furai
per se stesso m' ancide,
e dentro mi conquide,
sovente mi fa rio tragger piu guai,
e in tal guisa il mio cor, lasso, divide,
che dentro a lui menai ;
donna mia, unque mai
cosi fatto giudizio non si vide.
Di mi' ardir non vi caglia,
donna, che vostra altezza
mover non si convien contro si basso ;
lasciatemi gir, lasso;
c' a finir mia gravezza
fo con la morte volontier battaglia.
Vedete ben che non 6 piu possanza ;
dunque al mio folleggiare
piacciavi perdonare,
non per ragion, ma vincavi pietanza ;
ben piu che far vendetta e da lodare
signor anza
che perdonanza
usa nel tempo che puo gastigare
(Vil.)
Mo CINO DA PISTOIA
LXXI
Non spero che gia mai per mia salute
si faccia, o per vertute di soffrenza,
o d' altra cosa,
questa sdegnosa di pietate arnica,
poi non s' e mossa da ch' ell' a vedute
le lagrime venute per potenza
della gravosa
pena, che posa nel cuor c' a. fatica ;
per6, tornando a pianger la mia mente,
cosi dolente vado tuttavia,
com' om che non sente ne sa ove sia
da campar, altrove ch' in parte ria.
Non so chi di ci6 faccia conoscente
piu omai la gente, che la vista mia,
che mostra apertamente
come 1' alma disia,
per non vedersi il cor, partirsi via.
Questa mia donna prese nimistate
allor contra pietate che s' accorse,
ch' era apparita
nella smarrita figura ch' io porto,
per6 che vide tanta nobiltate
cosi pone in viltate chi mi porse
quella ferita,
la quale e ita si che m' a '1 cor morto.
Pietanza lo dimostra, ond' e sdegnata
ed adirata per questo che vede;
ch' ella fu risguardata ove non crede
c' altri riguardi, per vertu che fiede
d' una lancia mortal, c' ogni fiata
ch' e afilata di piacer procede;
CINO DA PISTOIA 141
io 1' 6 nel cor portata
da poi c' amor mi diede
tanto d' ardir ch' io vi mirai con fede.
Io la vidi si bella e si gentile
ed in vista si umile, che per forza
del suo piacere
a lei veder menaron gli occhi il core.
Partissi allora ciascun pensier vile,
e amore, ch' e sottile si che sforza
1' altrui savere
al suo volere, mi si fe signore.
Dunque non muove ragion il disdegno,
ch' io convegno seguire isforzato
lo mio disio secondo ch' egli e nato,
ancor che da vertu sia scompagnato;
perche non e cagion, ch' io non son degno;
c' a cid vegno come quei ch' e menato ;
ma questo sol m' assegno,
morendo sconsolato,
c' amor fa di ragion ci6 che gli e grato.
(Vil.)
ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE NOTES
D. C. = Divina Commedia.
V.N. = Vita Nuova.
V. E. = De Vtdgari Eloquentia.
Conv. = Convivio.
All. = Allacci.
Val. = Valeriani.
Mon. = Monaci, Crestomazia Italiana.
V. R. V. = // Libro de Varie Romanse Volgare (Cod.
Vat. 3793), a cura di S. Satta.
A. R. V. = Antiche Rime Volgari (Cod. Vat. 3793), pub-
blicate per cura di A. d' Ancona e D. Com-
paretti.
Chig. MS. = Chigian Manuscript.
Gloss. Occ. = Glossaire Occitanien.
Vill. = Villarosa, Rime Antiche Toscane.
Nan. = Nannucci, Manuale della Letteratura del
primo secolo della Lingua Italiana.
D'Anc.eBac. = D' Ancona e Bacci, Storia della Letteratura
Italiana.
NOTES
NOTES
I.
For the history of Piero delle Vigne, or Petrus de Vineis,
students may refer to almost any commentary on Dante, Inf. xiii.
58 sqq. Dante does not cite him as a poet ; but he was one of
the earliest vernacular Italian versifiers ; and the facts that he
died about the middle of the fourteenth century, and that from
1230 or so onwards he was busily engaged in State affairs, hold-
ing the offices of logothete and protonotary to Frederick II, whose
right-hand man he was for many years, entitle us to refer most
of his poems to the first thirty years of the century ; while the
existence of a tenzone, or poetical debate, on the nature of love,
between him, Jacopo Mostacci, and the Notary of Lentino,
enables us more or less to date those writers, less known to general
history. Pietro is generally credited with having invented the
sonnet, the indigenous and most typical form of Italian poetry.
The actual date of the present piece is not known ; but I have
placed it at the head of this collection, as it seems thoroughly
to strike the key-note of ' Trecentist ' verse. Allacci, who includes
it in his selection, assigns it to the Notary. His text varies
a good deal from that of the Vat. MSS.
It will be noted how each stanza opens with one or two of the
words with which its predecessor concludes. A similar artifice
occurs in Nos. XIII, XLV.
The 'art', as Dante calls it, or structure of the stanza, is
simple. The lines are hendecasyllabic, with the exception of 9
and 10, which are heptasyllabic. The metre is iambic. The
rimes run ABCABC, CDEEDC. The few internal rimes, as in
St. 2. 8 and 4. 2, are probably accidental.
Stanza 1, 1. 1. ed ene. V.R.V. reads ene. A. R.V., follow-
ing Allacci, has e vene. This is slightly nearer to the
ductus literarum ; ene gives a much better sense, when we
BUTLER L
146 NOTES
remember the 'movemur et sumus' of Acts xvii. 28, besides
avoiding the awkward repetition in 1. 3, so that I have preferred to
regard the «asa blinder of the scribe (or reader) for n. The
ne may be the not uncommon superfluous enclitic (as, for instance,
vane in Purg. xxv. 42; ; or, better, have its full force of ' thence ',
inde. The insertion of ed seems quite permissible.
1. 4. divisare : ' describe.' So Purg. xxix. 82. The anno-
tator (Rovillin) of the Lyons ed. (1551) of Dante calls it 'modo
di parlar Francese '. It is certainly a Provencalism.
1. 7. ma si. We say ' but even so '.
1. 10. ca = che ; both 'that' and 'than', quod and quam.
The latter sense was no doubt the original ; ca is intermediate
between quam and che. It is a common form in early Italian.
I. 11. tale. All. has si gran.
Stanza 2, 1. i. Istato : i is extra metrum.
1. 4. norato : onorato. The omission of the 0 is very usual.
1. 7. c' a. All. che.
1. 9. aunor =onor ; a very frequent form. Conoscenza, often
written canoscenza, ' intelligence ', is another stock attribute of
the ' donna '.
1. 11. talento. 'will', 'inclination' ; as often in Dante.
Stanza 3, 1. 1. ad essa : V.R.V. adesa. Perhaps we should
read adesso ; esso indeclinable is often appended to a preposi-
tion with an intensitive force. Thus soflresso, Inf. xxiii. 54;
conesso, Purg. iv. 27. See Diez, ii. 426. It must not be
confused with adesso, adverb of time, davanza : probably
only ' superabounds ' ; though the verb davanzare, formed from
adverb d'avanso, does not occur later, nor is it recognized by
Crusca. It may conceivably be adapted from Prov. davant anar,
' to precede, escort ' : in which case one is reminded of Ps. xcvi.
6, where an Italian version of 1573 has 'la gloria e 1' ornamento
avanti a quello '. Such Scriptural reminiscences, with ascription
to the lady of divine qualities, are frequent — and daring — enough
in these poems, just as they were commonplaces of courtly
flattery.
1. 8. briga (Fr. brigue=i intrigue '), a word of obscure origin,
means ' strife ', ' worry '. briga di n. e d'af. m ' having to struggle
with annoy and weariness '. (V.R.V. edinoia—tht e superfluous).
NOTES r47
1. 9. V.R.V. corico firagione, obviously corrupt. The slight
alteration of corico to carico allows a sense to be extracted. ' A
little good, acquired without too much trouble, is better than
wealth (lit. a rich man) by natural right (i.e. unearned) after
he passes his prime.' For ragione see note to No. XIX, St. 4,
1.6.
1. 1 1. All. via lo mio ricchore de' e. /., which looks like a gloss.
I. 12. i' : All. che; perhaps better ; with comma for semicolon
at end of preceding line.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. agio must be scanned as one syllable ; pro-
nounced af. So voglio, deggio, gioia, noia, and similar words.
II. 5, 6. AW.per cut chanto e son di gioia guar uto [sic] e tengno
me sovr* ogri altro amadore. Of the next three lines he makes
a complete hash.
11. 7-9. Gaspary (S.P.S., p. 51) quotes a similar sentiment
from Pons de Capdueil as an instance of the Italians' debt to the
troubadours. The expression is no doubt very like ; but this
sentiment is surely a commonplace of all amatory poetry, down
to ' Si le roi m'avait donne* Paris sa grand'ville.'
1. 12. core, riming to core (1. 6) in practically the same sense,
is contrary to the general rule of 'equivocal ' rime. See V.E. ii.
13. Possibly we should read here amore. The two words are
often substituted for each other by scribes.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. mio: like tuo and suo, very rarely a dis-
syllable; so rarely that, when it occurs, one may suspect
a syllable dropped in the MS.
1. 2. abento : ' rest,' ' solace.' This pretty word, of constant
occurrence in the early poets, seems to have disappeared entirely
by Dante's time. Diez {Worterbuch) calls it Sicilian. Its
derivation is unknown, but it is probably connected with
ventus\ the idea being of a cool, breezy place, such as
a Southerner would find refreshing, just as more northern
people formed abri, ' shelter,' from apriacs, ' warm.'
1. 3. grazie : three syllables ; as grazioso in Inf. v. 88 is four.
1. 5. al chiaro viso : V.R.V. col, which makes the line too
long. A.R.V. escapes by adopting c/u'ar, a doubtfully possible
form. It seems simpler to read al. Au cler vis is a stock
phrase in early French poetry.
L 2
148 NOTES
11. 9, io. These lines, as given by the Vat. MS., are obviously
corrupt. They are short, and the rime fallo—parlo, though
not unexampled, is not satisfactory. Casini, in his note to A.R.V.,
suggests :
Dunqu' eo nom posso farlo,
Nom fallo se non parlo.
This is plausible ; it might be better with tii 'm for nom in the
second line. I would however suggest converting the present to
the future :
Dunqu' eo nom falleragio
Se no 'nde parleragio.
'nde : often used, especially with no or non, for the later nc.
II.
Again we find, though with less precision, the last line of each
stanza echoed in the first of the next. Rime-scheme : ABAB,
CDDC.
Stanza i, 1. i. disio: Bella Mano io vivo. If disio be re-
tained, it must be regarded as sb., governed by b. — speranza :
Nan. and other editors give fidanza, to avoid the riming of the
same word in the same sense ; but there seems to be no autho-
rity for this, though it is otherwise better. But see Stanza 3,
11. 1, 2, where disio and speranza are again coupled.
1. 3. MSS. (Vat. and Laur.) e guardomi. mi : the quasi-
reflexive form is common enough in Dante, as elsewhere. See
for examples Inf. ii. 9, Purg. xxiv. 52, 91, Par. xxii. 27, 36 (where
//' riguarde has much the same sense as guardomi here). The
pronouns probably represent the Latin dative, not the accusa-
tive. So mi teria below, Stanza 2, 1. 3.
1. 6. ed : e is frequently used to introduce the second member
of a sentence involving time or condition. Wiese, §§ 117, 118,
gives many instances. Others may be found Inf. xxv. 34, 50.
In V.N., § 24 we have 'sedendo io pensoso in alcuna parte, ed
io mi sentii,' &c. — spanna: images drawn from navigation are
very common.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. bello=&-« lo\ A.R.V. belo. 'Truly I should
hold it.' Nan. omits lo.
NOTES 149
1. 7. The story of Pyramus and Thisbe is a stock ornament.
Dante's use of it in Purg. xxvii. 37-39 and xxxiii. 69 will be
remembered.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. ched : the d, retained to avoid hiatus, is
of course a relic of Latin quod. Che in early Italian serves as
a universal relative, much like 'which' in Elizabethan (and to
this day in illiterate) English. Instances are frequent. Here, of
course, it stands for quando.
1. 5. lena : so MSS. Bella Mano, Val., Nan., A.R.V., alter
to cera, 'face,' in order to save the rime with spera (the
reading of the MSS. in 1. 8). But the epithet aulente, ' fragrant,'
is far more suitable to lena, 'breath.' Mon., who keeps
lena, thinks the author may have been satisfied with an
assonance ; but it seems better to risk spena (for spene) in
1. 8. The alteration of final e to a is not unexampled, e.g.
suora for suore ; while assonance is seldom, if ever, permitted.
1. 6. Gaspary quotes a Provencal parallel; but here again
the notion of dying for love might surely have occurred to the
writer independently. There are plenty of parallels, without
counting universal commonplaces.
Stanza 4, 11. 2, 4. dimando— mi mando : this is the reading
of the MSS., and the sense seems fairly clear. ' I now demand
my own heart at your hands.' — The notion of the lady having
the lover's heart in her keeping is of course very common ;
sometimes, as in V.N., § 3, she feeds on it— 'and the time seems
long to me since I have been sending love into your heart.' I take
mi mafido to be another instance of the quasi-reflexive. It
might be better to read fino che for che fine Fino is of course
the regular term for the 'courtly' love; and a scribe could
hardly have seen the two words in one line without coupling them.
Mon. reads mi manda, presumably taking amore as the subject,
assuming the author, it would seem, to have again chanced
his rime. A.R.V. saves him by reading dimanda ; but either the
object or the subject seems lacking according as we make cor
subject or object. Bella Mano has in line 4 vi mando ; which,
if any emendation is needed, seems the best.
1. 5. Vat. MS. piaciere: this is clearly wrong. Even so
careless a rimer as Mon. makes Pietro to have been could not
r5o NOTES
have allowed -ere and -ento to pass. Val. emends to guarao
tempo vi sia in piacimento ; Nan. follows him. The omission
of che is quite usual ; but it seems simpler to omit mi.
1. 6. spanda : we might have expected spanni, after the
previous use of the word ; but very probably the author thought
them the same.
J. 8. insengnamento : Prov. ensenhamen, ' instruction,'
' guidance ' ; another technical troubadour's term.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. a 'm ballia, • has in keeping' ; another favourite
word. It only occurs twice in D.C., of St. Peter with the keys
and of Cato with the souls. It occurs in a Canzone attributed to
Dante (xvi. 65). From bailo, a steward, bailiff— Lat. bajulus, ' a
porter.' Fr. baffler, Eng. bail. With accent thrown back, bdlio,
bdlia, it means guardian or nurse (Conv. iv. 5).
1. 8. volire, Sicilian pronunciation of volere. The spelling
is sometimes changed to suit the rime, sometimes not.
Dante avoids the -ere, -ire rime, though he sometimes permits
himself that of -preso with -iso and the other Sicilianism of u
for o. Mon. val ore. (Why ?)
III.
Nothing is known of the personal history of Giacomo the
Notary, of Lentino in Sicily. He seems to have been a prolific
poet, much (and often justly) admired throughout the thirteenth
century, and much quoted by those who at a later time took
notice of the early writers. We know that he was a con-
temporary of Piero delle Vigne and Jacopo Mostacci of Pisa,
from the sonnet-debate between the three on the nature of
love, which has come down to us. (The sonnets in question :
' Sollecitando un poco il mio savere,' ' Per6 c' amore non si pub
vedere,' ' Amor t; un desio che ven da core,' are printed
separately by Val. and in their proper connexion by Monaci,
Cres/om., p. 61.) It will be remembered how, in the famous
passage Purg. xxiv. 5 5-57, Bonagiunta of Lucca is made to name
• the Notary ', Guittone, and himself, as exponents of the older,
more conventional and less spontaneous, style of verse. Never-
NOTES 151
theless there is a vivacity about many of his poems which is
often as pleasing as the greater finish of the stil nuovo. We
may take it that he was one of the cultivated men who
frequented the Court of Frederick.
This poem is the first in the Vatican MS. collection. Dante
quotes it, though without naming the author, in V.E. i. 12, as an
example of polished diction and 'courtly ' vocabulary, in contrast
to the usual coarse style of the ordinary 'Apulian'.
The poem consists of 16-line stanzas, the first three of each
four being hepta-, the fourth hendecasyllabic. Rime-scheme :
ABACDBDC, EEFfGHHIiG (the small letters indicating
internal rimes at the sixth and seventh syllables).
Stanza 1, 1. 2. priso for preso. See note to last line of
No. II. Cf. Purg. i. 95, iv. 126.
1. 4. non m1 aita : ' my wish to speak is no help to me.'
1.8. teneselo : Vat. MS. etenolosi; Giunta (following
Palatine MS.) teneselo' aita ; Nan. teneselo a vita (interpreting
se lo tiene) ; Mon. tenelosi in v. The best sense seems to be
' Love keeps my heart alive for himself. It is rather tempting
to read e' lo tenese, ' might he keep it ! '
1. 16. vidi : the principal MSS. and all edd. till Carducci in
1876 have vide ; but vidi, obviously the right reading, is pre-
served, says Casini, in a Memoriale, or note-book, at Bologna.
Cf. Par. xix. 141 (according to the best reading). Render ' to my
own hurt I saw.'
Stanza 2, 11. 1-4. Cf. No. I, last lines.
1. 6. ' beside the way I am distressed.' For the use of verso
or inverso in a comparison, cf. Purg. iii. 51, Par. xxiv. 95. —
A suggested reading is in ver, ' in truth ' ; abolishing the stop
at end of this line, and taking cJC to stand for die, ' since.' But
this gives no better sense.
1. 7. coralemente : 'from my heart.' An imported Provencal
word; not in D.C., but used once by Dante in a sonnet,
V.N., § 22.
1. 8. che non credo mai si stingua: note the omission of
che after credo— an idiom common to Italian and English ; and
stingua, subj. because of the negative preceding (Diez, iii. 346).
1. 11. The salamander is another creature which plays
152 NOTES
a great part in the fauna of the troubadours and their Italian
imitators.
I. 16. ' Comes to the ear, and brings me no grain.'
Stanza 3, 11. 5, 6. improdito : so the Vat. MS. The
Laurentian (Redi's) has om prudito, according to Monaci, who
says that the lines are missing in the Palatine. Giunta has e1
parmiuno spirito ; which Casini (perhaps on the strength of this)
avers to be the reading of the Pal. The Memoriale has im-
pendito ; an ugly image, which pleases some modern Italian
critics. (Is impendito ever found for impeso or impenduto ?)
This seems to be a case of lectio difficilior potior. Improdito is
no doubt an unusual word ; but may it not mean ' one deprived of
prowess,' ' in a fright,' the opposite of prode ?— lo cor : Giunta
clC al cor.
1. 7. chito : i. e. cheto, ' quiet.'
1. 10. sturba : cancella (Nan.). Perhaps rather ' makes
a mess of it '.
1. 11. pura seems to be equivalent to pure (which Val.
reads) ; Giunta : perb che. For the image, cf. Par. xiii. 78.
I.14. propia : as usually, for propria.
I. 16. se s' apprende: so V.R.V. A.R.V. and Mon. s'oprende
— apparently a ' vox nihili '. Giunta, following Pal. MS., has
ove J apprende, which Nan. interprets ' whatever he catches
hold of. But should not the verb in that case be in the subj. ?
Apprendersi in a physical sense =appigliarsi is, to say the least,
very rare, unless in the metaphorical use of fire catching, plants
taking root, and the like ; but it is hard to find another sense
for it here.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. If che be retained, there seems no verb for
amore. Giunta gets out of the difficulty by reading ni I suave.
— ave, ' has got me.'
I.4. fortuna: in the common technical sense of 'storm'.
II. 5, 6. ' Gets away by jettison from the place of danger.'
11. 11, 12. afondara, gravara : archaic form of cond. It
is formed directly from the Lat. pluperfect (Diez, ii. 133). So
in English, e. g. ' yea, the waters had drowned us, and the
streams had gone over our soul.'
11. 13-16. • As the storm breaks up when it touches the earth,
NOTES 153
so do I break up, and seem to get repose when I sigh and weep.'
— creio for creggio, i. e. credo ; formed on the analogy of veggio,
veto, for vedo. In the latter case the ' palatalized ' form is due
to the Lat. video. (Wiese, p. 132.)
Stanza 5, 1. 3. inamorato : * between two #'s dropped
in scansion.
1. 7. lasso: Lat. laxo, 'set myself loose.' In 1. 5 it is the
adj. ' weary'.
1. II. 'all in its fleshly form.'
I.16. tal lo vederia. Note omission of relative.
IV.
This pretty little poem so strongly resembles the 'Acmen
Septimius' of Catullus as to make the reader wonder if the
Notary can have had any knowledge of that famous piece. Not
only is the sentiment very similar, but the form, partly narrative,
partly dialogue, is alike in both, except that, whereas in the
earlier the poet narrates, here the lover tells the story himself.
Though the MS. of Catullus was not rediscovered (at Verona)
till after 1300, some individual poems seem to have been known
throughout the Middle Ages ; and this is as likely as any to
have been handed down in Florilegia. Some of the more
obvious resemblances are quoted ; others will occur to the reader.
It may be noted that the lover uses tie, not voi.
The lines are heptasyllabic throughout : rime - scheme
ABABCCBDDB.
Stanza 1, 1. 1. coninciare (or coninzare) is more usual at
this time than com-.
1. 3. al mio parimento : ' in my opinion.' Often al mio
fiarere ; used by Dante once or twice (e. g. V.N., § 3 ; Par. ii.
84), but only in verse. Petrarch and Boccaccio also have it.
1. 4. Agri — Messina : Acre and Messina may be taken to
denote Palestine and Sicily ; to an Italian the most eastern
and western of Frederick's realms. So Catullus uses ' Syrias
Britanniasque ' — the extremities of the Empire. All., not
perceiving this, reads da qui.
154 NOTES
Stanza 2, 11, 1, 2. Cf. :
ut multo mihi maior acriorque
ignis mollibus ardet in medullis.
1. 6. All. laniata, probably to avoid the necessity of making
four syllables of lanciata.
1. 7. Cf. No. V, Stanza 2, 1. 3. The hidden wound is a
commonplace.
I. 8. It might be better to read membriti\ fiata being
properly a trisyllable.
Stanza 3, 11. 2, 4, 7, 10. As Casini notes, -ento and -ente
seem to be accepted as sufficient rimes.
Stanza 4, 11. 1, 2. Cf.
Ni te perdite amo atque amare porro
omnes sum assidue paratus annos.
II. 3-6. Gaspary quotes some lines of Peyrols as suggesting
these, but the resemblance is not very close ; and the lusinga-
tore or slanderer is a commonplace of the school.
I. 3. lusingatore, Prov. lauzenjador, in the sense of both
'slanderer ' and ' flatterer '. In the face of this double sense the
usual derivation from Lat. laus will hardly hold, and it seems
better to regard the word, which runs through all the Romance
languages, as of Teutonic origin, and akin to Eng. leasing (: lying).
II. 5, 6. Another reading is to put no stop at the end of 1. 5,
and to take per='in spite of,' a sense which it has in perche,
Pnrg. v. 58.
1. 8. • may he never see a spring.' Casini suggests trans-
posing the last two couplets, which certainly makes the sense
run more smoothly.
Heptasyllabic throughout ; rime-scheme ABCABCDDC.
Stanza i, 11. 4-6. The meaning seems to be 'as a painter
who is thinking about some scene other than his real subject,
and paints that instead of it.'
Stanza 2, 1. 1. porte for porti.
1. 4. Vat. anzi nt asembra morte. I have followed Monaci
NOTES 155
in preferring the Palatine. The Laurentian has ; e molto mi par
forte, forte =hard, as Purg. xxix. 42. This on the whole seems
to give the better sense ; but either will do.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. pintura : of course, a mental picture is
meant.
I. 4. vio = veto for veggio.
II. 7-9. ' Passo oscuro,' says Casini. It hardly needs ex-
planation for readers who know their Bible.
Stanza 4, 1. 4. invoglia : ' wraps up,' involvat. So scioglia,
(ex)solvat. Not to be confused with invogliare from voglia, in
Purg. xiv. 1 10, Par. iii. 84.
1. 5. Laur. tanto prende piit loco. So All. Probably a later
alteration, to make the dependent clause more symmetrical. It
might seem easier to do this by reading quando in the previous
line, with the Pal. MS.
Stanza 5. The Vat. MS. transposes this and Stanza 6 ; spoil-
ing the sequence of ideas.
1. I. siete must mean ' are there ' ; but this use is unusual.
I. 9. bella : Laur. and All. forte ; obviously another attempt to
make the sense run more easily by avoiding the change of person.
Stanza 6, 1. i. Vat. Perzo (percib) s' io v' b laudata. With
this the stop at end of 1. 6 would be replaced by a comma.
II. 7, 8. The readings vary somewhat, though not materially.
Laur. has aggiatelo, and voi dire, which may stand for voglio
dire or voi direi. Allacci, Monaci, and Casini take the former
view ; but the reading of the Vat. is good enough.— singa, i.e.
signa — segno. This playing fast and loose with genders is not very
uncommon ; and in this case the Lat. plural in a may justify the
fern, termination. It is possible that there may be a reminiscence
of the Prov. senhal, or secret name under which the troubadour
celebrated his lady. Here the 'signal' is the poet's silence.
Gaspary's suggestion of Zb ch? io no dire1 a lingua brings this
out better. — cio (Vat. zo) must be taken as di cib, unless for do
che we may read di cib, with the common omission of the relative.
Stanza 7, 1. 1. Laur. has Mia cans.fna, and in 1. 3 maitina,
forgetting the rime-scheme ; and in 1. 4 fina. Pal. omits the
stanza altogether.
156 NOTES
VI.
Rime-scheme : AaBAaBbCCDD. It will be noticed that the
same rime-endings are kept throughout. With this poem may
be compared that by Prezivalle Doria, Amor irC ha priso\
though in that the lover is more submissive.
Stanza 1, 1. 2. A.R.V. orgolglio m' b rendente. If we keep
the reading of the MS., -oglio must be pronounced as one
syllable, as often in voglio. Prov. orguelh, vnelh had no doubt
some influence in producing these syncopations (or whatever the
correct term is). With either reading the first two lines are
not very clear. Allacci's reading Pot benvolenza d'orgog/t'o ma
\qy. me] rendete makes that line indeed simple enough, but has
no connexion with the preceding and following. Poi must
answer to prima. The sense seems to be : ' Your pride in face
of my suffering, which restores me (sc. to myself), wrought in
my heart at first grief, then goodwill,' i.e. a feeling of easy in-
difference. The sentiment is common enough. ' If now I be
disdained, I would my heart had never known you ' ; ' If she
think not well of me, what care I how fair she be ? '—and so on.
I. 4. And take delight to increase a wretch's woe,
Then all her nature's goodly gifts are lost. (Spenser.)
II. 5-8. The lover is soon in bondage again. He must do as
all the world does and go in fear of his lady. He does not even
wish for fair looks, if she has not love in her heart. (St. 2.)
Stanza 3. He is ready to obey her ; he has done nothing to
repent of. Then again he plucks up a little spirit. Some feeling
of pride towards a disagreeable person is but human ; but her
pride against his humility is immoderate.
1. 3. penitenza is a kind of ' cognate accusative ' to pianger.
L 7. sorchietanza : formed from O.Fr. sorcuidance, ' pre-
sumption ' (the place of which was early taken by ouirecuidance).
Or, reading sor chietanza, we may interpret ' beyond possibility
of any settlement '.
Stanza 4. 'Those who are unjustly harsh come to repentance ;
and I venture to hope that love is beginning to punish her. So
she, my joy, would be prettier if her pride is humbled ; love can
do it — it is his wont.'
NOTES 157
1. 5. giente : a regular word, borrowed from Provencal, to
denote all that is graceful, morally and physically. Dante uses
it frequently in lyrics, but not in B.C. Afterwards gentile took
its place, though with a rather stronger meaning, ' noble.'
Stanza 5. ' You cannot have perceived how pride has ruined
Florence, and how Pisa has the good sense to shun the aims of
proud folk. Your pride is as stubborn as that of Milan at her
carroccio! — Here the Ghibelline poet shows himself; and in-
cidentally enables us to date the poem with some accuracy. In
1232 Frederick had inflicted a heavy fine on Florence for its
contumacy, particularly in carrying on hostilities against Siena.
Pisa, on the other hand, had always been loyal, and accepted his
measures for keeping the peace. Milan had suffered a severe
chastisement in the battle of Cortenuova (Nov. 27, 1237). On
that occasion the Milanese had made a last stand round their
carroccio ; which was, however, captured and sent to Rome.
The event carried dismay among the party ; Piero delle Vigne and
Frederick himself announced it in letters to princes and peoples.
It must have been fresh in memory when this was written.
1. 4. intenza : a word of various meanings. Here it pro-
bably has its primary sense of ' aim ' or ' intention '.
1. 6. Melan a lo carroccio : cf. ' Piramo alia gelsa,' Purg.
xxxiii. 69.
1.8. sgombra: intr., 'disencumbers himself.'
VII.
Jacopo Mostacci is just not only a name. He is believed to have
been a Pisan. As has been mentioned, he took part with Piero
delle Vigne and the Notary in a sonnet-debate on the nature of
love ; so that he must have been their contemporary, though
probably their junior. Monaci quotes from a Spanish chronicle
a mention of his having been sent to Spain by Manfred in July
1260 as one of a commission to negotiate a marriage, doubtless
that of Manfred's daughter Constance with Peter, son of James,
King of Arragon. See Purg. iii. 115. Obviously, therefore,
he was a person of some consideration. The present piece is,
as to its first three stanzas, an almost literal rendering - of
158 NOTES
a Provencal poem, the authorship of which is assigned to
various troubadours, including Cadenet and Peire Ramon :
Lunga sazon ai estat vas amor
Humils e francs, et ai fait son coman — .
Gaspary (S.P.S., chap. 2 ad init.) gives the Italian poem in full,
with variants and notes, also the three stanzas of the Provencal.
English readers will be struck with the resemblance in tone,
and often in expression, to Sir Robert Ayton's ' I loved thee
once, I'll love no more ' ; while the opening lines recall the well-
known song ' Since first I saw your face, I resolved to honour and
renown ye' — both of about 1600, at which date the poem, so far
as is known, had not been printed. Nor, so far as I am aware,
had it been imitated by any of the Cinquecentisti, whose influence
upon English poetry towards the end of the century was so well
marked.
The Cruscan Dictionary (s. v. adonare) assigns the poem to
Guittone.
The rime-scheme is simple : ABCABCDEDE. Lines 3 and
6 are heptasyllabic.
Stanza i, 1. 4. adesso = sempre, says Gaspary ; but it is
probably more nearly equivalent to the older English use of
' presently '.
1. 6. nonde, Lat. non inde : now non ne.
Stanza 2, 11. 1-6.
' Nothing could have my love o'erthrown,
If thou hadst still continued mine ;
Yea, if thou hadst still remained thy own
I might perchance have yet been thine.' (Ayton.)
1. 2. This line, as given in the MS., is a syllable short. The
insertion of si seems obvious. — adonata. Adonare is from
Lat. donare, but its sense appears to have been modified by
dotnare. It usually has the meaning of ' to subdue ', as in
Inf. vi. 34. Reflexively it means ' to surrender ', as Purg. xi.
19. It was confused with adunare by the earlier makers of
vocabularies, such as Francesco d'Alunno, and, to some extent,
the Cruscans. In Provencal it seems to mean adunare solely,
NOTES 159
so that, as Gaspary points out, Mostacci probably misunderstood
his original, ' Mas tan la vei adonar ab enjan,' i. e. ' united with
deceit '.
11 4, 5. gioia in the earlier poets usually scans as one
syllable in the interior of a line, unless a word beginning with
two consonants follows. Towards the end of the century it begins
to be dissyllabic.
1. 9. intendanza, ' object to aim at,' hence (as usually)
1 object of love '.
Stanza 3, 11. 1-6. ' My leaving her will not hurt her ; but '
— with a touch of conscious pride in his poetic powers — 'I could
make her feel that she has lost something.'
I. 1. The use of ella in the oblique case may be noted. It goes
down to Petrarch and Boccaccio. — parto is obviously not
a precise rime to tanto in 1. 4 ; but it gives at least an
assonance, which is more than can be said of Casini's pro-
posed reading, after the Pal. MS. : se d'e. parto e in a. intendo.
But for the sim part de lieis of the original, it would be easy to
suggest canto, taking ella to refer to the new love.
II. 7-10. ' But I will not, lest I should be taken for an evil-
speaker ; much better to leave a bad master on good terms.'
The little touch in 1. 8 seems to be original ; at any rate, it is
not in the Provencal.
Stanza 4 is not in the Provencal. It has, perhaps for this
reason, got into some confusion in the MSS.
I. 6. falliero. So Mon. The Vat. has fallire, which A.R.V.
follows, reading in I. 3 pensiere for the MS. pensero : whereby
the rime is not saved. Falliero is a perfectly possible form for
fallatore, as parliero for parlatore. The form in -iero is doubt-
less due to French influence. It represents Lat. -arius, not -ator.
The meaning is ' which has been wasted for me '. {Fallare, ' to
fail,' 'be lacking,' must be distinguished (rom/allire, 'to deceive' ;
though the two run into each other.)
II. 7-10. Vat. has: ' manonomispero Catale sengnora son
servato chebuono guiderdone averagio ca perzo chenobria ' &c.
With a little reconstruction a rhythm and a sense can be got at,
but I have followed the Palatine, as given by Monaci : which
seems more to the point.
160 NOTES
1. io. stagione. The idea of the reward coming in due
season is a very favourite one.
VIII.
The opening of this little poem is very graceful. The arrange-
ment of long and short lines is particularly agreeable, and
marks a distinct advance in rhythmical resource. Rime-scheme :
ABbCABbCDDEEFF.
Stanza i. Images from the winter silence and spring renewal
of the birds' song are very frequent. Italians, one may con-
jecture, had not yet begun to eat small birds.
1. 6. svernare, ' to come out of winter,' Lat. dishibemarc.
Hence of the spring song of birds, in which sense it seems to be
used in Par. xxviii. 118. In xxvii. 142 it is used reflexively, in
the literal sense.
1. 12. Doubtless a reminiscence of Eccles. iii.
Stanza 2, 1. 7. avenente : a stock epithet for a lady, —
' kind ', ' affable '. From Prov. avinen. The idea is of one who
comes forward to meet a wish. Avert ant is still used in a very
similar sense in French.
1. 11. ognunque: omne umquam. The Crusca does not
recognize it.
Stanza 3, 11. 2, 3, 5, 6. Note the equivalence, for riming
purposes, of -inga and -egna. The facility of the passage from
gn or gl to ngand Ig in Italian is illustrated by such words as
vengo, tolgOy beside vegno, toglio. There is no need to change
the spelling.
1. 9. lico is a word not found elsewhere, and impossible to
interpret. Some would read rico ; but the rime of a word to
itself in precisely the same sense is inadmissible. The only
suggestion that I can make is that silico is one word (as the MS.
writes it) and intended to represent the German selig. Mostacci
must have heard plenty of German in the Imperial Court ; and
this word (which he would have heard in the form salic) may have
struck his fancy, and he may have tried to naturalize it. The
meaning would be : ' If I do not attain to full bliss, I am surely
rich.'
NOTES 161
11. 7-12. Note the echo of the Psalms throughout this stanza;
especially of the opening verses of Pss. xviii and xxxi (Vulg.,
xvii and xxx).
Stanza 4. The dolce laccio of 1. 2 looks like a reminiscence
by contrast of the laqueus of Ps. xxxi. 4 ; while the other lines
will recall other phrases — curiously enough, so far as the actual
terms go, more of our own version than of the Vulgate. But the
Vulgate was by no means the only rendering of the Psalms with
which a man of the thirteenth century might be acquainted.
IX.
This quaint little piece is assigned by the Vat. MS., which
alone has preserved it, to Messer lo re Giovanni. The only
King John of the time would be John, Count of Brienne, titular
King of Jerusalem, through his wife Mary of Montferrat, leader
of the fifth Crusade, and, at the end of his life, Latin Emperor
of the East. He was also Frederick's second father-in-law ;
the Emperor having in 1225 married his daughter Yolande.
A good deal of his time was spent in Italy, where he was
a popular figure, for his gifts of mind and body. 'A man of
energy, and in form fair before the sons of men,' a chronicler
quoted by Monaci calls him ; and Salimbene says that he was
deemed a second Charlemagne, and that when he hit about with
his iron mace the Saracens fled from the face of him as if they
saw the Devil. As he was born about 11 60, and died not later
than 1237, this poem, if correctly ascribed to him, must be one
of the earliest specimens of Italian verse. Some modern critics,
with the usual ' credulous incredulity ', as it has been aptly
termed, characteristic of modern Italians when dealing with their
early literature, have attempted to throw doubt on the correct-
ness of the ascription in the MS. The only tangible argument
that I have seen is to the effect that John would not have had
time to learn Italian. No doubt, when he had occasion to use
strong language to his son-in-law he preferred his native
French ; but it would be hard if he did not acquire Italian enough
to write light verses in that tongue. Others, puzzled perhaps
by the changes of rhythm, have thought the poem to be a patch-
BUTLER M
1 62 NOTES
work of fragments from other pieces. But this change of
rhythm was a feature of the class known as discordi, Prov. des-
cortz. The lines are clearly intended to be sung to a dance,
and the changes correspond obviously to changes of step.
The varying length of the stanzas (if they may so be called)
is also characteristic of the discordo. In the present case the
first contains 23 lines, the second 24, the third 22, the fourth
13, the fifth, sixth, and seventh, 6 each. The rime-schemes vary
no less. That of St. 1 is AABCCBDDB, EBEB and so on
to the end ; of St. 2, A2B2 for six lines, A2A2A,Ba for eight
lines, A2A2B2 for six lines, AjAjA^ for four lines ; of St. 3,
ASB3 throughout ; of St. 4, A4 for seven lines, B4C4 (identical
with B2A2) for six ; of St. 5, A5A6B5, twice ; of St. 6, A6B6
thrice ; of St. 7, A7A7B7C7C7B7. The great number of a rimes,
are, ate, ansa, will be noticed. The metre of Sts. 1 and 2 is
a lilting amphibrachic, the type being inver la pascore, e far
conoscanza ; but an extra syllable often comes at the beginning.
From St. 1, 1. 12, to the end, the even lines have three beats ;
as : Colore non vidi si ge*nte. In St. 3 the measure changes to
a tripping trochaic line of seven syllables. In St. 4 the first
eight lines as given in the MS. appear to continue this ; but
I suspect that there should be a return to the measure of 1 and
2, to which the last 5 lines clearly belong. By the slight
omissions of letters which I have indicated the whole stanza
becomes homogeneous. St. 5 has — «-» — ^ — v^ — w (bis) |
\-> — <-/ — o, twice over ; St. 6 — \j — «~> — ^> — <-> | — \-/ — «->|
thrice ; St. 7 is like St 5, without the initial syllable to 11. 3 and
6. In 1. 3 sanza must probably be scanned as one syllable,
a licence natural enough in a Frenchman.
Stanza i, 1. 7. chiarita spera : • beam of brightness ' ; a
favourite form of address to the lady, used by the Notary and
others. This spera is probably a distinct word from spera, ' a
sphere ', and Teutonic in origin. Germ, speer, ' spear ' (cf. strale
from strahl). Dante uses it once in D.C. — Purg. xvii. 5 (where
modern translators mostly render by 'disk', 'orb', 'globe').
The older commentators knew it, and explain by raggio or
some similar word, as does Torraca among the moderns. It
also occurs (probably) in the Canzone ' Io son venuto,' 1. 16.
NOTES 163
Petrarch appears to have it once in the sonnet 'In mezzo di
due amanti.'
I.9. genzore : comparative of gente ; Prov. gensor.
1. 14. Read ancora la for, — metri gratia.
I.17. pascore : 'spring'; another Provencalism. (B. del
Born : El coindes pascors floritz Mi donz son ardit no creis.)
From Pascha, Easter ; perhaps not without a suggestion from
pascua, ' meadows.'
1. 18. Read che ama\ che unelided, as frequently.
Stanza 2, 1. 6. noranza : onoranza.
1. 15. ridare : 'dance in a ring,' Inf. vii. 24. Also riddare.
1. 22. Either si si, as above ; or the pleonastic si may be
dropped.
Stanza 3, 1. 5. in cielato : ' in secret' ; of frequent use.
1. 6. facea : fare used just like our ' do ', to save repeating
a verb. The story of Tristan and Iseult is one of the stock
commonplaces in the early poems.
It is this abrupt introduction of a bit of narration into the
dance-song which has chiefly exercised the modern critics ; but
how do they know that it was not part of the game ? After all,
there are transitions no less abrupt in Pindar or Horace.
1. 8. zia : she was his aunt as being the wife of Mark, his
uncle.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. contrate: see note to No. XLIX, St. 4, 1. 6.
Stanza 6, 1. 1. meglio is a monosyllable, as often in Dante,
where it is usually written m£, and in later poetry.
Stanza 7, 1. 3. temere: MS. tinore, which gives neither
sense nor rime.
X.
Though no definite evidence on the point appears to exist,
we are not likely to be wrong in identifying this Rinaldo of
Aquino with the nobleman of that name who in 1 241, with
the acquiescence of Peter de Vineis, succeeded in kidnapping
his young brother Thomas from the General of the Dominicans
and locking him up in one of the family castles with a view to
dissuading him from joining that Order. After a year the lad
M 2
1 64 NOTES
escaped; and Scholastic Philosophy was not deprived of its
greatest light. The Lords of Aquino were of German stock,
and were high in the favour of Frederick II. In 1257 Rinaldo
appears to have acted as Manfred's viceroy for Otranto and
Bari.
The first line of this poem is quoted by Dante twice : in V. E.
i. 12, as an example of the use of verba curialiora by an
Apulian ; and ii. 5 as an instance of the correct opening of a
canzone with a hendecasyllabic line.
The stanza is of 14 lines, 2, 5, 7, 9, 13 being heptasyllabic,
and 11 pentasyllable. Rime scheme: ABCABCDEFGGFED.
The effect of this somewhat elaborate structure is exceedingly
melodious. It will be observed that the first line of each stanza
echoes the last of the preceding.
Stanza i, 1. 3. aparigliare: 'match.' From pariglio or
more usually pareglio. Lat. pariculus, dim. of par. Used by
Dante, Par. xxvi. 107, 108. Fr. pared, Prov. parelh, whence it
seems to have come directly.
11. s, 6. The terms of feudal lordship are constantly used to
illustrate the relations of the lover to his lady.
1. 14. mante: 'many.' See note to No. XXIX, St. 2, 1. 2.
Stanza 2, 1. 6. Note that the a oigioia is not silent before
st; doubtless a relic of Latin metrical usage. Instances of
conformity with this rule will be found in Dante, though for
the most part he neglects it ; allowing, for instance, mia to stand
as a monosyllable before speransa.
1. 7. coraggio means here no more than core— its original
sense.
1. 8. ver : ' compared with,' • beside '.
1. 10. s'intenza : intenzare is a somewhat perplexing word.
It is not easy to find a general notion which will satisfy the various
significations in which it appears to be used. Here it seems to
mean ' set up as a rival ' or ' match itself, and it has a very similar
sense in No. XXXIII, St. 3, 1. 10 : ' O Dio, chi lo m' interna.' In
No. XXVIII, St. 2, 1. 3, the meaning seems to be ' contends with
me ' or perhaps ' raises a contest in me '. It occurs also in
Peter de Vineis' Poi tanta conoscienza (A.R.V., xxxvii. 1. 41),
' d'amore, che la 'ntenza ', where it must mean ■ puts her on her
NOTES 165
mettle', or something of that sort. Dante does not use the
verb, but has the subst. interna in the passage Par. xxiv.
75-8, where it seems to denote 'purport1, almost 'quality'.
Voc. Cruse, which equally does not recognize the verb, renders
interna by ' aim ', ' intention ', as in No. VI, St. 5, 1. 4. In this
way it came to mean ' object of love ' ; but no such idea seems
to be conveyed by the verb. Ducange indicates a Low Latin
intentiare : ' Intentiatttm pro intentionatum, seu controversiae
datum ', intentionare being = intendere in the sense of litigare.
The Glossaire Occitanien renders entensa (vb.) by aspire.
The word, it may be noted, seems always to occur in rime.
I. 14. al mio paragio: 'to my rank'. Prov. paratge ; ety-
mologically equivalent to our ' peerage '.
Stanza 3, 1. 3. avanzare : so No. VIII, St. 1, 1. 4.
II. 7-14. One lady ought not to have more than one re-
cognized 'serzndore' (husbands, of course, did not count), and
to drive away one who has long been established may not be a
crime, but implies bad ' lordship '.
Stanza 4, 1. 4. mi laudo : so Inf. ii. 74, ' di te mi loderfc \
This is the usual construction, and suggests that we ought to
read di for e, putting a semicolon after biasmare.
1. n. no: non b. Vat. MS. tnaocredenza ; but the nega-
tive seems to be wanted.
1. 13. Casini's suggestion to omit d'amor as a gloss, and
substitute non, is obviously correct.
XL
This little poem, first printed by Trucchi, and lacking from
few selections since, for sheer pathos and simplicity cannot be
matched, one might say, in the whole range of Italian verse,
and marks its author as a true poet. It purports to be the
lament of a girl whose lover has gone on a Crusade. Whether
it be the Crusade of 1228, or that of 1240, or indeed any par-
ticular Crusade at all, seems a matter of extreme unimportance.
It is not, strictly speaking, a canzone, but just a lyric of four-
line stanzas, seven syllables to a line, with alternate rimes.
Perhaps because all the even lines of the first two rime together,
the Vat. MS., which alone has preserved it, groups all the
1 66 NOTES
stanzas in pairs, and the edd. have followed the arrangement.
The text is corrupt, and there has evidently been some disloca-
tion. Thus the first four lines of St. 7 appear to be a variant
of the four opening lines ; the last four should clearly be the
last four of St. 3, leading up to the apostrophe to the Cross
with which St. 4 opens. The last four lines of St. 3, with the
false concord between il mio amore and ft sia racomandata
and their missing rime, have slipped in from St. 5 ; where, by
reading alto irnperadore for alta fiotestate and (ri)dotfato, rime
can be vindicated without offence to syntax.
The piece has been translated into English by the late
Mr. Warburton Pike.
Stanza i, 1. 3. navi must probably be pronounced as one
syllable — naiti or na'i.
1. 4. collare, 'to hoist '. It is also used of hoisting a man by
the arms for torture, ' giving him the rope ' as it was called. Diez
takes this to be the primary meaning, and connects the word with
German qualen. Looking to the frequency with which this form
of discipline was applied in Italy — at any rate at a much later
date—this does not seem impossible ; though one would have
expected the transference of meaning to have been the other
way.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. If we are to retain ed, we must suppose that
the somewhat similar sounds in rimango and ingannato are
fused together — rimang' 'ngannata. Other instances will be
found where doubtful prosody may be mended by a similar
assumption ; e.g. in St. 7, 1. 2 of the present poem, where the
an of possano seems to coalesce with that of andare.
Stanza 3, 1. 1. A syllable seems to be lacking; but the
metre throughout is rather irregular, and there is nothing
unusual in dropping an unstressed syllable at the beginning of
a line, provided that the right number of beats is preserved.
The same applies to St. 6, 1. 8. In fact, the irregularity is
pleasing.
Stanza 4, 11. 1, 3, 5. croce must be sounded a.s croc\ Some
editors read crux, which perhaps has some analogy with the
Santus of the last stanza, but has no warrant from the MS.
Stanza 5, 11. 1, 2. Difficulties have been made by minute
NOTES 167
historical critics over this statement, seeing that the ' world' —
i. e. Christendom — had not much peace in Frederick's reign ;
but it may be taken to express at least the Ghibelline conception
of the Empire and its functions, afterwards grandly developed
by Dante in De Monarchia.
Stanza 6. The syntax of the first five lines is irregular,
1. 2 having no regular construction, and one is at first inclined
to attempt emendation. But the dislocation expresses very
naturally the confused thought and inconsequent speech of the
love-lorn girl.
1. 7. in cielata : cielato is more usual, and Trucchi so reads,
followed by most recent editors. D'Ancona and Bacci, in their
Manitale della Lett. ItaL, retain the MS. form. There is a touch
of irony in the use of the phrase, which is more often applied to
the meetings of lovers.
1. 8. ' For the sake of my true love.' Vita is common in this
sense, as are its equivalents in other languages.
Stanza 7. As has been said above, this ought probably to
be deleted here, the second half going to St. 3. Santo must be
omitted in 1. 6.
Stanza 8, 1. 1. There is some little controversy whether
Dolcietto should have a large or a small d, a question not of
vital importance. The person appealed to is clearly a pro-
fessional maker of verses ; though one can hardly suppose that
anything he could write would have gone straighter to the
gallant's heart than the maiden's own artless lament. — This line
seems to have a syllable too many ; yet none can be spared.
May we suppose that prego was colloquially sounded preg' ?
1. 3. sonetto : not necessarily in the technical sense. The
'sonnet' proper would hardly at this time have been regarded
as a vehicle of passion.
1. 6. Carducci and others, not seeing the metrical beauty
imparted by this short line — punctuated, one may fancy, by
sobs — have inserted la before notte and dia.
XII.
Another little study on the favourite theme : that while a good
lover will not complain of his sufferings, will even find joy
1 68 NOTES
in them, the lady ought not to take pleasure in inflicting and
witnessing them. The stanzas are in seven lines, I, 2, 3, 4, 7
being hendecasyllabic, 5 of nine syllables, with an internal rime
at the second syllable, 6 of seven. Rime-scheme ABABbCCB.
Stanza 1, 1. 2. contolami : la mi conto.
1. 3. The loves of Paris and Helen, learned from the ficti-
tious but popular Dictys Cretensis, are as favourite an illustration
as those of Tristan and Yseult ; and are often, as here, intro-
duced with no special applicability.
1. 4. ongnura : omnem horam.
1. 7. By inadvertence wrongly arranged. Read ella piu (e)
dura.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. Egli has been inserted to save the metre.
Che unelided, often written ched (with retention of Lat. d in
quod), is common enough, and found even in Dante.
1. 4 should probably read : que' che quantunque vede (perhaps
vene) un pd p. b.
1. 7. MS. infrlama. The emendation is obvious. Perhaps
mal ch* in altruifla?na would be even better. Trucchi, regard-
less of rime, has d altrui procura ; A.R.V. in far fama, which
the editors see to be impossible, but leave alone.
Stanza 3,1. 1. scanoscienza : almost our colloquial 'bad
form '. Canoscienza would appear to be the quality by which
the right thing to say or do is known. Gloss. Occit. renders
conoissensa by habiletd.
1. 2. chi rimproccia : render 'when anyone reproaches '.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. punto : ' moment.' So Par. xxix. 4.
XIII.
Of no very special merit, except that of reciting the common-
places in smoothly flowing language and rhythm and a touch of
banter. The stanzas are of twelve lines, the first of each again
echoing the last of its predecessor. The lines are octosyllabic,
therefore trochaic ; once or twice, as in St. 1, 1. 7, and St. 3, 1. 5,
a superfluous syllable seems to be introduced at the beginning,
like the anacrusis in Greek choric lines. Rime-scheme :
ABCABCDDEFFE. The poem was first printed by Valeriani;
NOTES 169
afterwards, with comments, by Grion, in the Propugnatore of
Bologna, vol. iv.
Stanza i, 1. 2. levi : this use of the subjunctive in a com-
parison with some general image is almost peculiar to Italian.
Cf. Inf. xv. 45 'com' uom che riverente vada' : and see Diez, iii.
p. 347. We may render very closely in English ' a star to bring
up the morning ', showing how it sprang naturally from the Latin
use of the relative with the subjunctive.
1. 10. The same image as in the last piece, St. 2, 1. 7 ; con-
firming the emendation there adopted.
Stanza 2, 11. 8, 9. This notion of the lover's heart being
taken from him and entering into the lady is often met with.
The passage at the opening of the Vita Nuova is the most
famous instance.
1. 10. degiate : an imperative to debbo is hard to render.
Perhaps ' do your duty, and provide me ' may serve ; unless,
indeed, we ought to read degnateci.
Stanza 3, 1. 5. Casini would save the metre by omitting da ;
but see above, No. XI, St. 8, 1. 6.
1. 10. According to a note to V.R.V., a blot has hidden the
letters between sg and i. Their restoration is pretty obvious.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. meve : this form of me is common. It may
not improbably represent Lat. memet. The tendency of m to
become v is seen in novero from numerus.
Stanza 5, 1. 7. The suggestion ned a, for the neda of the
MS., is Valeriani's. A.R.V. has ne di, which does not seem to
make sense.
1. 9. Val. has no stop after penando, A.R.V. a comma. The
punctuation in the text seems better, rendering ' though I should
die in my pain ' : or perhaps ' my waiting ', a sense which the
word has more than once in Boccaccio.
1. 10. The allusion is obscure. According to the editors of
A.R.V., Grion discovered a castle called Monteil, near Bard in
Piedmont (known to travellers through the Mont-Cenis tunnel),
the owner of which was one Jacopo del Carretto, lord of Ivrea
and the Canavese, married to a daughter of Frederick ; and
assumes that this serventese was addressed to him (why not
her?). They do not, however, seem to think much of this
r7o NOTES
identification ; and it is hard to see why a poet in Apulia should
be writing for a lady so remote, or calling her ' the flower of
Messina '. There is a place called Montella, a little way inland
from Salerno, which, if we are to speculate, seems more eligible.
Val. reads in Mont., but there seems no need for this. ' If you
are not where the country of Mont, is' gives a good enough
sense.
XIV.
In this exquisite elegy the poetry of the early period seems to
reach its culminating point. In sincerity, in absence of anything
like a 'conceit', in manly resignation, its treatment of a theme
which has since been handled by famous men, Dante, Cino,
Petrarch, has not even by them been surpassed. Nothing
certain is known of the author. Valeriani, who first printed this
ode, calls him 'of Prato'; on the ground, says Monaci, that there
was a family of Pugliesi in that city. These were no doubt
immigrants from Apulia ; and Giacomino may have settled
there. But his language is certainly Apulian— he writes, for
instance, chiace for piace. Monaci suggests, with some plausi-
bility, that he may be the Giacomino whose name appears
among the witnesses to a deed executed at Cividale in Friuli
in 1235. Frederick and his Court were at Aquileia in May of
that year, on the way to Germany, and Cividale would have
lain on their route. In one of his poems the author apostro-
phizes a lady as holding rule over all ladies from Germany
to Aquileia, showing that Friuli was a familiar region to him.
Giacomino was evidently known to the next generation, for
Guido Cavalcanti's ballata ' La forte e nova mia disaventura'
contains an obvious echo of this poem in the lines ' Che la gentil
piacevol donna mia | da 1' anima distrutta s' e partita ; | si ch' io
non veggio la dov' ella sia, | non e rimaso in me tanta balia.'
He seems also to have been something of an experimentalist in
metre, as the next poem shows.
The Vat. MS., which alone has preserved Giacomino's verses,
has given them in a sadly disorganized form. The present
poem is printed by Valeriani and in A.R.V. in stanzas of vary-
ing length, ten and eleven lines. Casini would make them all
of nine. Monaci has them correctly. There can be no doubt
NOTES 171
that they are of ten ; 11. 7 and 10 being of five syllables. The
MS. has also obviously transposed the first four lines of Stanzas
3 and 4, besides introducing superfluous lines, perhaps from
other versions. The structure of the stanza is plain enough ;
the first section of four lines, the second, or, to use Dante's word,
sirima, of six, the third and sixth of these being, as has been
said, short. Rime-scheme : ABABCCDCCD.
Stanza I, 11. 6, 9. The repetition of allegranza is clearly
wrong. For the first we might suggest leansa, ' allegiance.'
Stanza 2, 1. 3. Cf. V. N. § 32, Canzone, 1. 1 5 ' Ita n' e Beatrice
in 1' alto cielo.' Dante, too, no doubt knew his Giacomino.
11. 6. 7. The Vat. MS. reads: levomi dagioco e canti e dela-
dolze compagnia chio 7/iavea delgliamanti.
Stanza 3. As said above, the MS. has transposed the first
sections of this and the next stanza. The second section of this
is so plainly a reply to the first, that the restoration is obvious.
I. 5. The omission of che before sia is a common idiom.
II. 6, 7. MS. : madonna lotuo viso chelotene insva ballia.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. The MS. reads iranza, which gives perhaps
an even better sense, with its suggestion of passages in the
Psalms.
11. 5, 6. Between these, Vat. MS. inserts : elssua nobile gien-
tilia ; an obvious variant.
1. 10. la : MS. followed by Val. in.
Stanza 5, 11. 1, 2, 3. This enumeration of territories, as the
height of all that could be desired, is a characteristic feature of
the early poets. Other instances, though none perhaps quite so
comprehensive, will be found.
XV.
In this rather free poem, hardly to be dignified by the name
of canzone, we have Giacomino in a lighter mood. It is also
one of his experiments in rhythm. The text, perhaps owing to
the metrical eccentricity, has again suffered at the scribe's
hands, and presents several lacunae not easy to fill. Casini,
entirely (as I think) misunderstanding the metre, has re-written
the poem in stanzas of six hendecasyllabic lines ; which has
172 NOTES
involved the insertion of several unnecessary little words. From
a careful comparison of all the stanzas, the following scheme is
arrived at : —
\j — \j — <u — <*j — w (J>is)
u — v^i — v^i — ^ — ^ — ^ (Jer)
\J — <u — </ w — \J — \~>
The rime-scheme is equally original : aBaBbCDCD — which
has caused some editors to print the stanzas as of nine lines.
Stanza 1, 1. i. Ispendiente : so the MS. which Mon. follows:
A.R.V. preferring, perhaps rightly, to read isplendiente. But
until we know more of thirteenth-century Apulian it seems safer
to stick to the text. The / is probably represented by the / of
the third syllable: splendere — spiendere—spendiere. There is,
however, a Prov. espenher, corresponding to Ital. spingere, with
similar senses. Dante does not seem to use spingere, though he
has the compound sospingere often enough, in the sense of
'rouse', 'stimulate'. This would be very appropriate here.
The i would arise from an attempt to imitate the sound of Prov.
nh, and the d would almost inevitably slip in after the n. — Stella
d'albore : cf. No. XIII, St. i, 1. 2 : st. che levi la dia.
1. 4. This line as given in the MS. lacks a syllable. The
insertion of non improves the sense, and is justifiable on the
ground that similarity of termination frequently caused the
scribe to omit the latter of two words.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. diportanza : ' pastime ', ' sport '. Diporto
is the more usual form.
1. 4. dicei for dicevi ; ' you kept saying '.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. conquiso : this French form occurs in
Purg. xxiii. 45.
1. 3. The MS. reads si che davoi nonsso par tire. Val. has
auso (for osd) ; A.R.V. and Mon. oso. The trifling alteration
made in the text preserves the internal rime.
Stanza 4, 1. 3. Here again the MS. has made a hash of rime
and metre — se nom fosse ladolze aita.
1. 5. Two syllables short in MS.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. Either this is a lapse into the measure of
the sixth line, or we must read a me tenia. — Rosa novella :
compare the opening of No, XL.
NOTES 173
1. 3. Observe the ingenuity with which the rime -ia is
obtained.
1. 4. Probably corrupt. A syllable is almost certainly lacking,
for the hiatus of O in is unusual and disagreeable ; in fide
(=' faith' expletive) is doubtful; and it seems impossible to
make sense of fosti fiatuta. The metre might be amended by
reading fosti ti ; but the difficulty of the sense would remain.
One might read fostiti pattuta (for pattuitd), ( thou hadst
pledged thyself.
Stanza 6, 1. 1. intando : seems to stand for intanto, * the
while '.
1. 3. Again a syllable short. We might read se ten vai.
There is no internal rime.
Stanza 7. Dislocated in MS., 1. 6 being inserted between
2 and 3. This line and 1. 5 are also short. I have suggested
possible rectifications.
I. 2. ' Folks who have charge of you ' ; parents or guard-
ians, always a terror to wooers. The omission of the relative
is as common in Italian, at least down to Machiavelli, as in
English.
Stanza 8, 1. 3. Again the internal rime is missing. Probably
the text is wrong in both places.
II. 5> 6. The MS. reads: asai verssi canta giacomino che
sparte direo amore, which gives neither sense nor metre. The
correction of 1. 5 is pretty obvious ; for 1. 6 we must depend on
conjecture : based indeed on the main theme of the poem, the
iniquity of ' him who parts two loving hearts ' — to quote a lyric
popular some forty years ago.
XVI.
Giacomino here remonstrates with his lady, supposing her to be
estranged through having lent too easy an ear to the slanders of
tnal parladori — the stock villains of these little dramas — who
have thrown doubts on his loyalty to her ; not without a threat of
poetic reprisals. He evidently does not intend to be taken too
seriously ; for he has set his complaint to a tripping trochaic
measure of eight syllables, very different from that of the
174 NOTES
pathetic Aforle, perche. It is broken in every stanza by the fifth
line, an ordinary hendecasyllable, but resuming afterwards
with an even more lively step, produced by the insertion of
two short lines. It is perhaps the poet's most felicitous inven-
tion in metre (A.R.V. makes the stanzas of varying length;
Casini proposes to make each of nine lines, by a somewhat
Procrustean method). Rime-scheme : ABABCDDCDDC.
Stanza i, 1. 6. e cotanto : MS. cotante.
11. 7, 8. MS. transposes lo core and tuttora.
1. 8. sbaldire : ' to be bold, merry '. From baldo ; a Teu-
tonic word, of which the oldest form is Goth, balths. It appears
as a termination in many Lombard names ; and is found in all the
eastern Romanic group. Curiously enough, Spanish does not
seem to have retained it ; for the words in that language which
appear to resemble it have from the first a totally different
meaning, and Diez is inclined to derive them from Arabic.
Dante has baldo and sbs. formed from it ; but not the verb,
which is a favourite with his predecessors.
Stanza 2, 11. 7-1 1. MS. eldispresgio uostro emiso fiosto
donna intutto desio sialtamore discese. Except for the missing
1. 10 the emendation is fairly obvious ; and quando veggio, or
something like it, fits the sense. For the sentiment, compare
Spenser's
O fairest fair, let it be never named
That so fair beauty was so foully shamed.
1. 9. posto : ' laid down '.
Stanza 4, 1. 2. MS. verme nonfare ; perhaps better. Note
the throwing back of the accent in fdllia, bdllia. The four
'sdrucciolo' rimes add to the generally jovial effect of the
metre.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. bello sacco can hardly stand. I have
suggested (after A.R.V.) an obvious correction. Bello for ben
lo is common in the MSS.
1. 5. Note sia, dissyllable before sp.
1. 6. t' infinga : 'makes you pretend'. The reflexive in-
fingersi is more usually found.
1. 8. trezeria : ' treachery '. Fr. tricherle) Prov. tricharia.
NOTES i7S
XVII.
Nothing whatever is known of Compagnetto of Prato, except
that he seems from his style to be rather later than those
hitherto represented. Only two poems of his are extant. They are
of no very special merit, but interesting as examples of popular
verse, illustrating the lax code of domestic morality which in
the next century found its classic in the Decameron. Gaspary
(S. P. S., pp. 149 sqq.) gives a good summary, and suggests
some emendations. Here the husband's ill-treatment of his
wife drives her into the arms of a lover. This piece again is in
trochaic ottonari; but Compagnetto handles the metre with far
less grace than Giacomino. Rime-scheme : ABABCDCDC.
Stanza i, 1. 6. Gaspary suggests : Talpenser b — no V avea — ;
i. e. ' it has now first come into my mind '.
I. 9. MS. (which shifts 1. 4 to the end of the stanza) in gran
g. mi fa. I have altered the order of the words, in order to give
gioia a right to be two syllables. The line thus runs smoother.
Stanza 2, 1. 5. acasgionasti : ' you have given me occa-
sion for '.
II. 5, 6. tal . . . c' amanza, etc. * Such that there was no
love between us ', i. e. ' for whom I had no love, nor he for me '.
The construction is precisely similar to that of Purg. iii. 41 :
' tai, che sarebbe lor disio quetato '. — Avea : ' there was ' ; vi
avea is more usual (Fr. il y avait), but the simple verb is
common enough ; so abe in St. 3, 1. 3. — The first syllable of
1. 6 must be regarded as extra metrum ; as is the e in 1. 2 of
the next stanza.
I.7. MS. madache lomiric, i.e. 'since you made me re-
collect him '. But she has said that she had never thought of
him before. So it seems better to drop the lo (which strictly
ought to be fie) and take ricordasti= ' put a new heart in me '.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. dicie si : ' asks if.
1. 4. dimino : for dominio. So ditnestico for dotnestico, and
conversely domandare for dimandare (see Meyer-Liibke, Altit.
Gram. § 137). — Note male in this and the next line still in use
as adj.
1. 9. ridito : ' returned '. Directly from Lat. redire, for
176 NOTES
which ric'dere is now used. Dante has reddire, as in Par.
xviii. ii. — Note again the Scriptural diction : Psalm xxx. {Vulg.
xxix.) 12.
Stanza 4. Here, as Gaspary points out, the vague mal
parladori are personified in a particular old woman.
1. 4. rifina : perhaps only ' makes an end of ' ; this sense of
rifinare occurs in No. LIV, St. I, 1. 8 ; and in Boccaccio. But
I am inclined to think that it means here ' does not mince her
words '. Gloss. Occit. renders refinamen by soulagetnent.
1. 5. The molto of the MS. spoils the metre; unless we are
to read airoso.
Stanza 5, 11. 2, 4. The rime of a word to itself in the same
sense is quite contrary to rule ; and in this case it is hard to see
the construction of the second credere. This might be rectified
by reading lor nonde' c, but the other objection would remain.
May we read chiedere in the sense of ' go after them ', or ' seek
information from them ' ?
XVIII.
Even Trucchi is unprepared with any conjecture as to the
identity of Jacopo of Aquino. We may perhaps assume that
he belonged to the same family as Rinaldo. The only thing
that tells against this supposition is that he is not styled Messer,
as Rinaldo is, in the MS. (though the title is conferred on
him in A.R.V.). This is the only poem of his that has been
preserved. The theme is the old one, of the lover's absence
from his mistress ; but the versification is spirited. The metre
is peculiar ; four of the ordinary lines being followed by six
short, of which the first, third, fourth, and fifth are five
syllables, the second and last, seven. The result is a fine
swaggering lilt. One can almost see the disconsolate lover
ruffling it down the street, hand on hilt, flinging his short lines
from side to side, as though challenging all the world to show
fidelity like his. It would do credit to one of our own early
17th-century poets. Rime-scheme : ABABBCCCCB.
Stanza 1, 1. 3. crio, credo ; so vio for vedo. Bembo,
Prose iii, remarks on these forms ; and Castelvetro notes that
NOTES 177
Lat. creare has similarly become criare. Here, however, the
change from e to * is probably dialectic.
1. 5. Vaio ne griso : ' rich robe nor plain '. Vaio, ' fur ',
from varius.
1.6. gioia here =' jewel'.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. afina, ' refines '. Fino amore is the tech-
nical term for chivalrous love ; several instances of its use have
already occurred. Remembering this, we see the full force of
' il fuoco che gli affina ' in the last line of Purg. xxvi.
1. 6. sed=j^; a mistaken analogy with ched for che, where
the d is a survival.
1. 10. giente : a Prov. word.,— gentile. See note to No. VI,
St. 4, 1. 5.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. MS. suo more.
I. 4. mi sovene : ' comes to my aid '.
II. 6-9. Note that, whether written -eio or to, the termination
is the same for purposes of rime.
Gaspary again finds in these lines traces of Provencal influence,
because Arnaut de Maruelh has something similar. But surely
the idea might occur to two poets independently. Did not
Shakespeare, who certainly never read either Arnaut or Jacopo,
write : —
Thus have I had thee as a dream doth flatter;
In sleep a king, but waking, no such matter?
1. 7. donneio : • make love ', ' court '. The word occurs twice
in the Paradiso, xxiv. 118 and xxvii. 88, in a spiritualized sense.
The full form is donneggio.
Stanza 4, 11. 1-4. In these lines Gaspary finds a remini-
scence of Aimeric de Belenoi ; and here the suggestion is more
plausible, for, though the simile of the mirror is somewhat
differently applied, two of the lines he quotes from the Pro-
vencal poet —
Que, quand ulhors cortei,
Pensan ab lieis dompnei —
when compared with 11. 4-7 of the last stanza, suggest that
Jacopo may have had them in mind.
178 NOTES
A somewhat similar idea is prettily expressed in a sonnet by
Pannuccio del Bagno (A.R.V. cccvi) :
E quando te veder, lasso, non oso,
ne veder posso, miro, in fede mia,
dentro a mio core, ove io te porto e guardo.
(I take the reading of V.R.V.)
XIX.
A group of Sicilians of the island itself follow here ; those who
have hitherto appeared being for the most part Apulians, with
the exception of the Notary, who seems to have lived mostly at
the Court. Tommaso di Sasso is only a name ; no record of
him has been preserved. His Muse, however, is not deficient in
energy, and his power of handling a complicated measure is
remarkable. The text is in a bad state, not always improved by
Allacci's editing. The stanza is of 12 lines ; 1, 2, 4, 7, 10 being
heptasyllabic, the rest hendecasyllabic. A curious feature is
the absence of any rime to the final lines. Rime-scheme :
ABbCCDdAEeFfGGHh nil. The internal rimes in 11. 3, 6, 9,
12 are on the sixth syllable ; in 8 and 11 on the fourth.
STANZA 1, 1. 2. Allacci is clearly right in omitting the e dolzi
pianti of the MS., which spoil the metre. A.R.V. retains them,
making the line hendecasyllabic.
I. 3. MS. : amore chema donato aduna dona amare. The
repetition of dona, duna, dona probably confused the scribe.
All. retains it ; also Val., who divides it into two lines, putting
this stanza out of agreement with the rest ; A.R.V. has amor
che dato m'd d. a., which brings the internal rime into the wrong
place. Besides, donato, * made a grant ', is the more effective
word. Perhaps adonato, ' subdued ', would be even better.
II. 8, 9. Note the rime sforzo — posso (MS. pozo). Sforzo
doubtless became sfrozo by the shifting of r common in all
languages, but especially in Italian (for examples, see Meyer-
Liibke, § 288, Diez, i, p. 207) ; the z— perhaps under Greek
influence in the South — becoming ss.
Stanza 2, 1. 3 ; paccio^asM^.
NOTES 179
1. 5. allaccia : ' enmeshes ', ' catches in his noose '.
1. 6. mi schianto : ' am shivered to pieces'. Changes of meta-
phor are not uncommon.
1. 7. che : the antecedent must be ' my condition ', or ' the
state of affairs '.
Stanza 3, 1. 1 : the umile of the MS. is clearly a gloss on
umano ; suggested perhaps by ' Umile sono ed orgoglioso ', the
opening line of a lyric by Ruggieri Pugliesi, in which a similar
fantastic list of contradictory qualities effected by the influence
of Love is recited.
I. 4. piagando : MS. piegando, as noted. But the meaning
must be ' heals while he wounds '.
1. 6. chiano : Sicilian for piano.
I. 9. MS. dolore ; but Allacci's dolzore, which Val. adopts, is
clearly needed to carry out the image of the previous three lines.
' The lover finds more delight in the rough waters of unsatisfied
longing than in the possession which Love torments with
jealousies.'
Stanza 4, 1. 4. varo : vario, ' diverse '.
II. 5 sqq. ' Snow that has become crystal cannot, by the law
of its being, become uncongealed again ' ; the old notion being
that crystal was ice in an extra-hardened form. — avene for
diviene is usual enough. — squalgliare : Lat. dis-coagulare ; Fr.
cailler. — per rasgione : ragione seems to be the Gr. Xoyos,
1 formal cause,' that which makes a thing what it is. Cf. No. I
St. 3, 1. 9.
1. 9. These illustrations from water and ice become more
common in the latter half of the century ; from which we may
perhaps infer that Tommaso did not belong to the earliest
group.
Stanza 5, 1. 4. astutare : ' to smother.' Of obscure origin.
Diez inclines to take it from Lat. tutari, ' to protect ' ; the con-
necting link being the idea of covering up.
The internal rime is missing.
1. 8. saver voria seems to mean ' I would have it known '.
1. 11. inorare : onorare.
1. 12. For non, fero or some such word seems to be wanted.
N 2
i8o NOTES
XX.
Guido de Columnis, Judge of Messina, is a well-known figure
in mediaeval literature, and his fame lasted for some centuries.
His history of the Fall of Troy, based of course on the so-called
Dares Phrygius, continued to be the most popular work of enter-
tainment at least down to 1500. He is said to have gone to
England with Edward I, and to have written on English
matters. The Trojan book, finished, as the author tells us,
in 1287, had been begun at least fifteen years before, at the
instance of Matheus de Porta, Archbishop of Salerno, who
died in 1272. Doubts have, of course, been cast on the
identity of the poet and the prose-romancer ; it has been sug-
gested that two gentlemen of the same name may have been
judges at Messina, perhaps in succession. They may ; but,
if so, it is strange that Dante, who refers to this poem twice
5 in V. E.> in one place (ii. 4) naming the author, should not
have indicated that the ' Judex Guido ' to whom he ascribes it
was not the famous veteran of letters, who had been for over
twenty years his contemporary, and with whom the name would
have been chiefly associated by his readers. It was first printed
r^-rrctstW 'n l^e S°netti e Canzoni (1527), edited to suit the taste of
x-^*4^"^^^ r the age. Dante (V. E. i. 12) quotes the first line as an ex-
•jL^^p^Jirt^-: ' ample of the Sicilian school without naming any author ; but
• %\ vf^" m conjunction with Ancor che Faigua. The poem, which was
i**-**** written probably not before 1250, at which date the author
might have been about thirty years old, shows a distinct
change from the earliest school. The diction is easier and
more finished, and there is a kind of attempt to find somewhat
far-fetched parallels from natural objects, and work them out
elaborately, and a sententious tone very different from the light-
hearted way in which the earlier people throw in salamanders,
panthers, and heroes of romance to illustrate their feelings.
Also the diction is graver and more sententious and the stanza
longer. We are on the road to Guittone and Guido Caval-
canti.
The stanza is of thirteen lines, all hendecasyllabic. Rime-
scheme : ABBbABBABCCDdAA.
NOTES 181
Stanza i, 1. 3. redine: 'reins'. From Lat. re tinere ; sub-
stituted, Diez suggests, for the classical habena when that word
came into danger of confusion with avena, 'oats'; which might
no doubt be awkward in the stable.
1. 4. soperchianza : ' excess ' ; in this case, of severity.
1. 7. The fidelity of the ' Assassins' to their chief, the ' Old
Man of the Mountain ', is a favourite illustration, cuitato :
' thought ', ' care ', ' purpose '. A Prov. word ; cuidar is from
Lat. cogitare. The Italian form is coto (cogt'tatus), as in Inf. xxxi.
77, Par. iii. 26. Hence too oltracotanza, Fr. outrecuidance.
1. 9. este : Lat. est. Used by Dante once in rime, Par. xxix.
141 — (where I now incline to think that 'sono ed este' is
probably the correct reading).
1. 12. squaglia : see note, No. XIX, St. 4, 1. 5 sqq. Here it
seems to mean ' breaks me up '. Che is omitted, and not
needed ; though Val. reads che si. But the Giunta retains cost.
Or the words may be parenthetical : ' let reward for my trouble
— so does it dissolve me— take hold of you '.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. ciera: 'countenance'. A loan-word from
OFr. chiere. Cara in this sense is found in Latin of the seventh
century. See Ducange, s.v. Sp. cara. It may be the Gr. K&pa,
' head ' ; not a very satisfactory derivation, for want of historical
evidence, but better than cerea, ' waxen ', suggested by Meyer-
Liibke, which, among other things, does not account for the
Spanish form. Hence Eng. cheer ; at first in such phrases as
' good cheer ', directly from Fr. ' bonne chere ', ' friendly coun-
tenance '. In Elizabethan English ' cheer ' = ' entertain '.
1. 7. grave for gravi; possibly a stage on the road from Lat.
gravet.
1. 12. dotto : ' I fear ' ; a sense which ' doubt' once had in
Eng., doute in Fr., and which survives in redoubtable. Lat.
dubito hardly conveys more than ' doubt '.
I. 13. vince guerra : so ' vince ogni battaglia'-, Inf. xxiv. 53.
Stanza 3, 1. 8. raffrene again for raffreni.
Stanza 4, 11. 1, 2 : cf. No. Ill, St. 2. The concealed flame
is of course a stock image.
II. 5, 6 : ' the inward burden and the countenance agree, and
make a show of how they fare '.
i82 NOTES
1. II : Render 'it is surely good sense, in him who can do it*.
The omission of the antecedent in such phrases is not un-
common. See Diez, iii. 354, where this line is instanced. In
the Giunta, edited after the idiom had gone out of use, ha has
been substituted for ^.
XXI.
This poem is cited by Dante, V. E. i. 12, in a somewhat
important passage. He has been saying that the Sicilian school,
having been the first to acquire fame, had given its name to all
the Italian poetry of the first period ; and he proceeds to give,
as examples of the Sicilian ' teachers ' in their serious work,
(-J this and the preceding, though without naming their authors.*
X it '* *\ The Vat. MS. does not include this piece, but it is in the Lau-
iaP^ rentian and (partly) in the Palatine collections, from which
°$i • Monaci has edited it. Nannucci and Valeriani also have it.
<yi<t/wf The stanza is of 19 lines; I, 4, 5, 8, 12, 19 being 11 syllables,
vc_ 1/ » ' the rest 9. Rime-scheme: ABBABAABBCC,DEDEFFGG.
U— ■ The internal rimes in Stanzas 1, 1. 12 and 2, 1. 8 are probably
fortuitous.
Stanza i, 11. 1-8. 'Fire will not warm water, unless
there be a vessel between them ; if they are brought into
direct contact, either the fire will be put out, or the water
dried up.'
I. 5. averrea : avveria, avverrebbe, from avvenire, to happen.
II. 9-19. ' Thus, when Love put forth his power upon me,
I should have been wholly consumed.' The image has been
found fault with as pedantic ; but it is not devoid of ingenuity.
The germ of it may perhaps be found in St. Augustine's famous
sentence : ' Nondum amabam ; et amare amabam ; et quaere-
bam quod amarem \
1. 15, fora : \jsX.fueram. See note, No. Ill, St. 4, 11. 11, 12.
Stanza 2, 1. 12. The * of involto disappears in scansion
between the two «'s.
1. 16. A syllable short, unless we suppose a hiatus between
molti and amanti. Perhaps come should be read for eke.
1. 19. Laur. MS. has amaro, which saves the apparent lack
NOTES 183
of a syllable. But eo as a dissyllable is not unknown, especially
when there is some emphasis on the word.
Stanza 3, 1. 1. fiate, as usual, in three syllables ; confirming
the derivation from Low Lat. vicata (from vices, ' changes ',
1 turns '). In fact, wherever the word seems to be two syllables,
at any rate in poetry before 1400, the reading (e.g. the usual
trentajiate in Par. xvi. 38) may be suspected.
1. 2. s' aranca : ' is wrenched '. From OHG. rank ; akin to
our wring, wrench, wrong. The mod. senses of the word, ' to
hurry ' (lit. ' hobble fast '), and ' to spurt in rowing ', can easily
be traced to the original sense ; as can the mod. German rank,
' intrigue ', ' trick '.
1. 5. abranca : ' claws ', ' tears '.
1. 11. mantene : imperative.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. avia, 'leads on its way'. Inviare is more
usual in this sense.
1. 5. sporto appears to be for sopporto.
1. 13. piagenti : for piacenti. Universal in the early poets,
but obsolete by Dante's time. It may have been due to the
Prov . plazer.
1. 14. addobraro : 'doubled'; presumably 'made me twice
the man I was '. But ought we not to read addobbaro, ' adorned ',
as in Par. xiv. 96 ? Alumno calls this word ' vocabolo francese',
and it probably came into Italian from Fr. adouber, ' to dub ',
though its origin seems to be Teutonic. If we read it here we
might render ' made me her knight '.
1. 15. tennero mente seems here to be used literally, ' kept
a mind in me '.
Stanza 5, 11. 1-4. Another image to illustrate the doctrine
that Love cannot act except through the medium of a loved
person ; calamita from calamus, the original compass having
been constructed with a needle enclosed in a piece of reed or
straw and floating in a bowl of water (Diez). One of the
earliest notices of the loadstone is cited by Humboldt from
a Chinese philosopher named Kuopho, of the fourth cen-
tury A.D.
1. 5. From the needle, the name calamita seems to have been
transferred to the stone.
i84 NOTES
1. 8. non n' anno balia : the duty has not been entrusted to
them.
1. 14. ullo was probably almost obsolete at this time ; it does
not occur in Uante.
XXII.
Stanzas of nine lines, riming ABC ABCcDd BC. D has no
corresponding end-rime in the stanza, but the seventh lines of
the stanzas rime together. A somewhat similar arrangement
will be found in the envoi to the • Clerkes tale ', though the
internal rime is there lacking. The lines are hendecasyllabic,
except 3 and 6, which are heptasyllabic. It will be noticed that
the first line of each stanza repeats the last word of the pre-
ceding.
Stanza i , 1. 7. The internal rime suggests that neente may be
two syllables, in which case we must read lo sua.
Stanza 2, 1. 8. abento. See note to No. I, St. 5, 1. 2.
Stanza 3, 1. 9. convento : • agreement ', ' compact.'
Stanza 4, 11. I, 2. Cf. the German ballad, • Sie hat mir die
Treue versprochen, Und gab einen Ring dabei.' The resemblance
can hardly be other than fortuitous, but the correspondence is
somewhat curious, considering that gifts of this kind must have
been more usual from the lover to the lady.
1. 4. per troppo savere : the words seem to be ironical,
• she knows a thing too much ' ; they can hardly be meant, in the
light of what follows, to imply a confession of fickleness.
Stanza 5, 1. 5. inavanza : ' enough and to spare '.
1. 9. ridente for ridenti as given by Val. and Nan. can hardly
be right in a Sicilian poem. It would be better to read in
11. 3 and 6 avenenti and soventi.
XXIII.
This piece has the air of an early production of the author's.
It is full of the conventional phrases and images which we find
in the versifiers of the first half of the century. Allacci includes
it in his collection, and it is also in V.R.V., in which the two
NOTES 185
preceding poems do not appear. The stanzas are of 12 lines,
8 of 7 syllables, 4 of 11. Rime-scheme : ABBCABBCcDDCC.
Stanza 2, 1. 5. aulore =attdore, the / being probably due to
the influence of aulere, Lat. adolere.
11. 6, 7. The sweet odour of the panther is a stock image
among the early poets. Brunetto Latini tells us about it in
Tre'sor, I. v. 196. After eating, the animal retires to a cave and
sleeps for three days, and then ' se lieue et oevre sa bouche, et
flaire si dous et si soef que toutes bestes qui sentent l'odor s'en
vont devant li, fors seulement li dragons '. Pliny (Nat. Hist.
xxi. 18) alludes to this belief.
I. 10. fontana, All. fortuna. So in 1. 1 of the next stanza.
II. II, 12. 'The Old Man of the Mountains' and the fidelity
of his ' Assassins ' is another stock comparison. Cf. No. XX,
St. i,l. 7.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. spande, All. sfienda, which is possibly correct,
since a subjunctive seems called for.
I. 7. Allacci transposes e and ciertamente with improvement
to the run of the line.
II. 6, 7. tanta — tanta can hardly pass as a good rime. In
A.R.V. a reading sftanta for the second tanta is given as from
Nann., who assigns it to Mazzeo di Rico. Spantare, Pr. esfta-
ventar, Fr. cpouvanter—l,X.o frighten'; and there would be no
difficulty about its use intransitively, so the emendation is not
unsatisfactory.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. Used as the first line of No. XXXV by Rug-
gierone da Palermo.
1. 8. fina : for the change from Lat. -ire to -are see Wiese,
225.
1. 9. Cf. No. XV, St. 5 ; here the lover is somewhat more
moderate in his estimate.
XXIV.
Of Mazzeo di Rico practically nothing is known save that
Fra Guittone addressed a canzone (No. XLIV in the present
collection) to him, and that he was of Messina. Monaci
(Crestomasia, p. 216) gives an extract from an Angevin docu-
ment concerning one Henricus Rubeus — Arrigo Rosso— who
1 86 NOTES
may possibly have been his father; and in the Palatine MS.
this piece is, says Casini, attributed to Rosso da Messina. The
present poem has nothing very original about it, but the
commonplaces are nicely expressed, and the rhythm is agree-
able. The stanzas are of ten lines each, i, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10
being of eleven syllables, 2, 5, 7 of seven. Rime-scheme :
ABCABCDEED.
Stanza i, 1. 8. moltipricar : the change of / to r after a
consonant is common enough, and not specially Sicilian. We
have frequently had ubbriare, ' to forget ', from Lat. oblitare,
a late word formed directly from oblitus. Another good in-
stance is assemprare {Inf. xxiv. 4) from adexemplare.
Stanza 3, 1. 8. convita: V.R.V. reads cinvita, which
modern editors have followed, putting an apostrophe after the
c; but it is difficult to see the force of ci in this collocation.
Convitare strictly means ' to invite to a feast (convictus) ', but
it seems soon to have been treated as if connected with in-
vitare. The false concord, however, shows that there is some-
thing wrong about the reading of this line. Val. boldly reads
la vostra belleza, while the Pal. MS. reads convitan and destroys
the structure of the verse.
11. 9, 10. Here calamita is distinctly the loadstone.
Stanza 5, 1. 3. snamorare : disinamorare.
11. 4-6. Cf. No. XIX, St. 3, 11. 10, II.
11. 8, 9. V.R.V. reads : inuostra potestate, agiatene alchuna
pietate. I suggest the insertion of the words in brackets as an
attempt to save the metre.
XXV.
The stanzas are of eighteen lines : 1 trochaic of eight
syllables, 14, 15, 18 of eleven, the remainder of seven. Rime-
scheme : ABABCABABCCDDDEDDE. The same rimes are
kept in each stanza.
Stanza i, 1. 1. Compared with the first lines of the second
and third stanzas, this is a syllable short ; symmetry may be
restored by writing eo after b.
L 4. divisare. See note, No. I, St. 1, 1. 4.
NOTES 187
I. 6. acatato : ' purchased '. accattare, Fr. acheter, from Lat.
adcaptare. Dante uses the word once, Inf. xi. 84. Boccaccio
has it in the sense of ' to borrow ', which Acharisio seems to
regard as the original meaning ; but this can hardly be correct.
11- 11 — 18. A pretty image, prettily expressed.
I. 17. immantenente: Fr. maintenant, from which the
Italian word was possibly taken ; it seems to have fallen out
of use by the next century.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. mi son adato : addarsi is used by Dante
(Purg. xxi. 12) in the sense of 'to take notice'. The original
meaning must have been ' to apply oneself to '. Acharisio gives
no later instance of its use.
II. 11-18. ' I believed that you were wrought more finely than
jacinth ; now I see that your hue is undoubtedly that of glass
which skilled craftsmen make to counterfeit the handicraft.' —
assetamenti seems here to have what Diez (who derives it
from sectare) takes to be its original meaning of ' a cutting ',
or 'carving', lavore is not uncommonly used in the sense of
wrought work, as of a carved gem, opposed to molten glass.
Stanza 3, 1. 7. One syllable short. Possibly here also eo
should be inserted before audo.
1. 18. richiamore seems to be a substantive formed from
richiamare ; almost in the sense of ' repentance '.
XXVI.
Prezivalle Doria, a member apparently of the great Genoese
house of that name, seems to have been a man of considerable
mark in his day. According to Monaci he was successively
Podesta of Avignon and Parma, Vicar to Manfred in the March
of Ancona, at Rome, and at Spoleto, and lost his life by drown-
ing in the river Nera in 1264. He thus belongs to the group
of poets who flourished about the middle of the thirteenth
century. Val. and Nan. ascribe this poem to Semprebene of
Bologna. They make four stanzas of it, of which only the
first two agree with the version here given. The stanzas
are of eleven lines, all of eleven syllables except the seventh
(which is pentasyllabic). Rime-scheme : AaBAaBCCDDEeFF.
1 88 NOTES
It will be noticed that Prezivalle, though a Genoese, is not afraid
of the Sicilian rime e = i ; it may be that his residence in Apulia
familiarized him with it, in which case this poem would have
been written in the later part of his life.
Stanza i, 1. 3. latino was used at an early date to denote
every man's language when he was born. Hence, both in
Italian and Provencal, it was transferred even to the song of
birds. In the Ballata somewhat doubtfully ascribed to Dante,
Fresca rosa novella (Oxford Dante, p. 177), we find the lines
' E cantinne gli augelli, ciascuno in suo latino ', and this mean-
ing too we get in Eng. latiner or latimer, * an interpreter '.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. sotrasse seems here to be intransitive, as
we might say ' withdrew ' or * withdrew itself, sc. ' from me'.
11. 3, 4. Here again we have the plurals adorneze and belleze
used as singulars.
1. 7. I have inserted ben, metri gratia.
XXVII.
All that is known of Folcalchieri — thus the Vat. MS. writes
the name— amounts to no more than an occasional reference in
the archives of Siena. He appears to have been dead by 1260.
The form of the name as given in the MS. seems to suggest that
the family came from Forcalquier in Provence : at any rate it
is difficult to see any Italian etymology for the name. If his
Christian name was Folcalchiero, the evidence for which does
not appear, unless it be in the documents referred to by Monaci,
the place-name must in the course of generations have been
converted into a Christian name.
The present poem appears to be the only one of Folcalchieri's
compositions that has been preserved. The theme is of course
a commonplace ; but there is a fine rush of passion in it, which
seems to suggest that it may have been something more than
a mere exercise in amatory poetry. The stanzas are of ten lines;
1, 2, 4, 5, 10 of eleven syllables : the others of seven. Rime-
scheme : ABCABCDEDeF. The same F-rime recurs at the
end of each stanza, while the others vary.
Stanza i, 1. 1. Some attempts have been made to date the
NOTES 189
poem by this line, but it is probably only another expression
similar to that in No. XI, St. 5. The most we can infer from it
is that there was no Crusade on hand at the moment.
11. 7, 9. Casini notices that the rime of these two lines is
irregular, presumably because, unlike the equivalent lines in
the other stanzas, they end with the same rime as 1. 10.
Stanza 2, 11. 2 and 5. As Nan. observes, the repetition of
parlando as a rime to itself in the same sense is irregular,
though perhaps not unexampled. He tries to save the situation
by taking the first to mean ' speaking openly ', the second
'speaking covertly', but this seems weak. Yet no obvious
emendation suggests itself.
1. 9. mort' e : Vat. MS. reads forte e, ' is hard '. The slight
change to mort' e gives a better antithesis and can be frequently
paralleled in the early poets.
1. 10. As it stands in the MS. this line lacks a syllable. To
rectify this I suggest the insertion of nel. There is no difficulty
about dolori as singular.
Stanza 3,1. 1 . fenisco . . . conenza : the negative accounts
for the second of these words being in the subjunctive mood.
Wiese notes the subjunctive in -a as a Genoese form, but poets
in want of a rime did not always confine themselves strictly to
their own local forms.
1. 4. agenza : a Prov. word ; ' gives pleasure '. This from
gens. See note to No. VI, St. 4, 1. 5.
1. 5. sa = ' tastes ', as in Par. xvii. 58. — manicare = ' to eat ',
Lat. mandncare, earlier form of mangiare.
1. 7. I have preferred to expand the nom of the MS. to avoid
the hiatus after so ; but possibly we may regard the vowel of
so as sufficiently stressed to be safe from elision before a follow-
ing vowel.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. One is reminded of Virgil's ' Nunc scio quid
sit amor ', but here it is the existence and not merely the nature
of love which is in question.
1. 2. a gia a giudicare may be taken as almost equivalent to
a giudicato ; the present of the verb, with an adverb of past
time, would be a survival from Latin.
1. 6. e '1 terzo is very puzzling ; it can hardly mean anything
i9o NOTES
but ' the third part', but why the masculine ? Nannucci's torlo
has no warrant and his explanation is futile. Perhaps the
simplest emendation would be to read ' la terza '. ' Love takes
two thirds of my heart and leaves only one to my lady.'
Stanza 5, 11. 3-6. Notice tua followed by vostra.
1. 5. MS. has senon dituto a/are apiacere, which leaves
the line a syllable short. The emendation seems obvious.
Render : ' save to do everything to do her pleasure '.
1. 10. Again there is a syllable short in the MS. The inser-
tion of non seems not only excusable, but imperative, since the
absence of any outward manifestation of the consuming passion
is a regular commonplace.— Casini calls attention to the rime
inciendo — amando. If any one is scandalized at this he may
conceive the poet to have written incando.
XXVIII.
This and the four following pieces are by members of a Pisan
group, probably a little junior to Mostacci, but still before the
middle of the century. They all show a tendency to the shorter
line, and abound in Provencalisms. Little is known of any of
them, and indeed the Pal. and Chig. MSS. assign Tiberto's
poems to Rinaldo d'Aquino. Monaci finds mention in Pisan
archives of the Galliziani family. In the present piece the
stanzas are of 14 lines, all heptasyllabic. Rime-scheme :
ABC ABC DEEDDEED. It will be seen that, so far as the
rimes go, the structure is that of an inverted sonnet, with the
tercets preceding the quatrains.
Stanza i, 1. 1. Both biasmare and lodare are often used
reflexively, followed by di. For lodare see Inf. ii. 74.
11. 7, 8. * If I tune myself up to speak, afterwards the string
slackens.' e is not 'and ', but is used as in No. II, St. 1, 1. 6,
where see note.
1. 9. mi stordo : ' I become stupid '. Fr. je m'ttourdis. The
etymology of stordire and its cognates is very uncertain. Diez
is inclined to adopt a view that we must look for it to tardus =
1 a thrush ', from an alleged habit of these birds to drop stupefied
NOTES 191
off the branch in the heat of the day. In this case the meaning
1 to deafen ' would be secondary. The word does not appear to
be Provencal.
1. 1 3. It would perhaps be better to read dice : E m' accordo ;
and the meaning of the last four lines would be : ' I make a
show of being deaf to the heart that says to me, " I too agree
that thou shouldst ask for kindness ".' The notion of two hearts
dragging in different directions is not uncommon.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. mi mente : ' is as a lie to me '.
1. 2. 'ntenda in : ' give heed to '.
1. 3. intenza : see note to No. X, St. 2, 1. 10.
1. 7. Se fai : the Vat. has sefa ; Pal., which Monaci follows,
hdiSffai. But the correct reading is obviously sefb. The words
of the ' other heart ' end with the previous line.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. m' adiviso : possibly a lengthened form of
m' aviso, ' purpose ' ; but more likely = divisare, ' devise '.
Stanza 4, 1. 5. piu : Chig. reads fitir. I am much inclined
to think that we ought to read s' io lascio, per tardanza, which
departs very slightly from the text and gives a much better
sense.
1. 1 1. Note that volglio must be treated as a monosyllable,
though written in full.
Stanza 5, 1. 3. ' That I may be given heed to by you.'
1. 6. conquiso : a Fr. form used by Dante in Purg. xxiii. 45.
1. 8. d'el : so Vat. MS. A.R.V. and Mon. emend to ne ; but
one cannot see why the writer should have wantonly introduced
an exceptional form in place of the more usual. Note that
biasmare is here transitive.
Stanza 6, 11. 4, 5, 6. If we keep the reading manchesse =
manchezze it must be regarded as an antithesis to plena ; ' such
is the fullness of your pleasantness, that it restores what was
lacking'. But it is perhaps better to read rendaitC ancK1 esse,
which might mean that ' it also gives me back existence '.
One is somewhat tempted to think that there may be allusion
to Psalm xvi. 12 (Vulg. xv). As has been pointed out, these
Scriptural allusions are very common in the amatory poetry of
this time.
192 NOTES
XXIX.
This piece is attributed by the Pal. MS. to Ruggieri d'Amici,
and by the Chig. to the Notary.
The stanzas are of nine lines : 3, 6, 8, 9 of eleven syllables, the
others of seven. Rime-scheme : ABC ABC Cc DD.
Stanza i, 1. 2. 'I was my own master.'
1. 4. tenore : ' holding ', ' bondage \
1. 8. sagio : ' assay ', ' standard '.
Stanza 2, 1. 2. mante : ' many ' ; Fr. maintes. The origin
of the word is uncertain ; it seems to have fallen out of use
before Dante's time. Vat. MS. reads ' emantene\ which looks
as if the word was strange, even to the writer of 1290 or
thereabouts.
1. 4. fino: the editors of V.R.V. state that the first three
letters of the word are blotted in the MS., and propose to read
fino, which is confirmed by the Pal. MS.
1. 6. benvolenza : in its literal sense of ' good-will '.
1. 7. quella : here again the MS. has been partly obliterated,
and the editors suggest quella. — che: the general relative.
Three hundred years ago it could have been rendered in Eng-
lish by ' which ' ; now this form is confined to the less educated
speech, and we must say ' with regard to whom '.
1. 9. ei = ebbi. I have adopted this reading from Vat.
instead of the e of the MS.
Stanza 3, 11. 4-8. ' Perhaps she would have some pity on
me, even if she did not love me ; so much pity as to put on an
appearance of joy. It would not look well for her if I died
because she shuns me.'
Stanza 4, 11. 2 and 3. ' She does welcome and honour me,
though not with loving intent.'
1. 4. stolle : Lat. distollit : takes away.
1. 6. difesa = • forbidden \
1. 7. apresa may be merely the participle to apprendere, in
which case the meaning will be very similar to that of the often-
recurring canosctente, but I am inclined rather to take it as from
Pr. presa, • esteemed ', ' prized '.
Stanza 5, 1. 6. morte : MS. molte. The emendation seems
NOTES 193
obvious, when we look back to St. 3.— guarentire must be
taken as intransitive.
XXX.
Concerning Gallo, or Galletto of Pisa, we have a few notices.
Dante refers to him ( V. E. i. 1 3) in company with Fra
Guittone, ' Brunetto of Florence,' and others, as among the
writers ' whom investigation will show to have used not the
courtly, but only their local speech '. He is said to have been
at the Council of Lyons in 1275, and he is addressed in one of
Fra Guittone's poems. This poem is in stanzas of twelve lines,
all of seven syllables. Rime-scheme : ABC ABC DDEFFE.
It will be noticed that the rimes are all on similar words used in
different senses. Nos. XXXI (which has identical rimes with
this) and XLIII are rimed on a similar principle. All may be
regarded as tours de force in imitation of the Provencal caras
rimas.
Stanza 1, 1. 5. poco. Monaci, following Pal. and Chig., reads
loco, which, looking to St. 4, 1. 5, is probably right. Even with
this reading, however, the meaning seems hopelessly obscure,
and further emendation needed. Something like loco non evvi
o parte might meet the case. The meaning would seem to be
' I was brought (where) there is neither definite place, nor even
district ', somewhat in the sense of the Psalmist's ' I had no
place to flee unto '.
11. 10-12. Cf. Dante's sonnet, 'Tanto gentile,' V.N. § xxvi,
where the same thought is expressed in more stately fashion.
Stanza 2, 11. 1, 2. For the use of poner mente as if the two
words formed one transitive verb, we may compare ' faro aquisto
due cose ' in No. XXXII, St. 5, 11. 3, 4.
1. 3. riso = ' rice '. As rice was not grown in Italy until
1468, this must refer to the imported grain, which, as we know
from Horace, had long been in use in Europe.
1. 8. mi dan gola : ' make me greedy '. Dante uses the word
in the same sense in Par. x. in.
1. 12. miro = ' wonder'. In line 9 it is merely 'look' ; the
two words are of course of the same origin.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. roma, probably for aroma. A.R.V. reads
BUTLKR O
i94 NOTES
donri aroma, from a supposed verb aromare. It might be better
to read a roma, ' has a fragrance'.
1. 3. It might be better to put a comma after voi, and render
bella sia by • fair as she may be '.
1. 5. ciercato : for this active use of the past participle, see
Diez, iii, p. 241. It is found in writers of the classical period of
Italian.
1. 11. muto : apparently = 'change', as we also use it of
clothes.
Stanza 4, 1. 3. pe = pie.
1. 5. See note to Stanza 1,1. 5.
1. 6. arcione = 'saddle-bow ' ; presumably high saddle-bows
were found convenient to secure the rider on mountain paths.
L 7. serra = ' rips '.
1. 8. serra = ' saws '.
1. 12. 'makes me, from being mountain, become plain', i.e.
' brings me down from high to low '.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. m' a mondo : ' has cleansed me '.
1. 6. saggio : again ' test', or ' standard ', as in No. XXIX,
St. 1, 1. 8.
1. 10. gallo : 'pride myself, 'swagger'; as in Purg.yi. 127.
1. II. ' like a cock partridge.' Any one who has seen the airs
of these birds in pairing-time will appreciate the simile. There
is of course a play on the writer's name.
1. 12. do mat to : ' I give check-mate'.
XXXI.
Of Leonardo del Guallaco we seem to have no documentary
notice ; though from the present piece it is obvious that he was
a contemporary of Galletto, and therefore of Guittone. As has
been said, the structure of this poem, which the author calls
a Sirventese, is identical with that of the last, even the rime-
endings being line for line the same. Some one has, however,
appended one additional stanza, summing up the writer's point
of view, which is that it is best to keep free from the entangle-
ments of love. The poem is preserved in the Laurentian (Redi)
and Pal. MSS.
NOTES 195
Stanza i, 1. 1. nasso = 'net'. Ger. netz. Doubtless, as
has been said in a note to No. VIII, the Germans of Frederick's
court must have introduced many German words which after-
wards fell out of use.
1. 4. ' they (the women) throw something worse than a noose.'
1. 8. non conservo : ' I do not take service '.
1. 9. fe parlar d' aviso : ' talked about what he knew '.
I. 10. piagiente : this epithet, usually reserved for the ladies,
has a somewhat comic effect when applied to Solomon.
II. 11, 12. The place of Solomon in the next world was
a question of no small interest in the Middle Ages. Dante
alludes to it {Par. x. ill, 112), but gives him the benefit of the
doubt. Petrarch, in the Trionfi, probably from a spirit of con-
tradiction to Dante, takes the other view. — 1. 12. paraviso =
paradise Paravisus for paradisus has been preserved in our
word parvts, the enclosed space in front of a church. (The use
of the word to denote a chamber over the porch seems to be
erroneous.)
Stanza 2, 1. 1. scritto: cf. Inf. xix. 54.
1.2. treciera: 'treacherous'; Prov. trichaire.
1. 5. leciera : 'a wanton'.
1. 7. pargola : ' a girl ' ; Lat. parvula. Used here in a
depreciatory sense, as pargoletta in Purg. xxxi. 59.
I. 9. T amiro: I can make nothing of this word ; the only
suggestion I have to offer is that it may be a shortened form of
ammiralio, 'the commander of the ships'. Curiously enough,
in Aesch.^^-. 184, Agamemnon is styled 'the senior commander
of the Greek ships ', but it is hard to see how the Pisan poet can
have acquired any knowledge of this. Still, some Greek classical
tags seem to have filtered through in a curious way, and this
may be one of them.
II. 10, 11. Between the meanings of membra in these two
lines there is a very faint shade of difference. In line 10 it
appears to be impersonal, while in line 11 the subject would
seem to be Eva. ' She puts all others out of my thought.'
With line 10 cf. Purg. xxix. 24.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. paroma : Crusca does not recognize the word
but Baretti explains it by ' one of the yard ropes of a ship ',
o 2
196 NOTES
i. e. ' braces \ The Greek napafils is used by LXX to indicate
straps or bands passing down from the corners of the altar.
The literal meaning would be ' shoulder-straps '.
11. 5, 6. Here, again, the allusion is obscure ; unless it means
that a man in love loses his head so completely that when he is
at Rome he thinks he is going on a crusade.
1L 7-12. 'As for the reason of my leaving him alone, every
man is what he is wont to be ; I do not take the point off this
bit of wisdom, and I do not swerve from it, whether in verses or
anything rimed (?) : this is evermore my aim.' Such I conceive
to be the meaning of these very obscure lines. — rimuto for
rimato is daring, and hardly less so propunto (by a false
accidence) for proposito ; but until an adequate grammar of
these poets is produced we must occasionally be content with
somewhat wild conjectures.
Stanza 4, 1. 3. palpe: 'pats'. This word, again, is not
recognized by the dictionaries. It seems to have been formed
backwards from palpare,
11. 4-6. These lines seem hopelessly obscure. For line 4
V.R.V. reads ' chibuosena rio /alio \ and it is stated that the 0
of rio is barely visible. We might read chi bnon senn' d rifallo :
' he who has a good wit makes it up again, and, when it is all in
good order, lives like salpae in the sea ', i. e. ' roams about as
he pleases'. The salfia here referred to is not the Ascidian
known by that name to modern zoologists, but a fish of no great
repute, asserted by Pliny (ix. 32) to require beating before it
could be cooked.
1. 7. serra : as before, ' grips ', ' takes hold '.
1. 8. serra : mountain-ridge, Sp. sierra, from its saw-like
form.
1. 10. fer : fere, ' strikes '.
1. 12. amonte : the meaning of this word is obscure.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. Note that giglio counts for a monosyllable.
The allusion in these lines is evidently to some incident in one
of the romances, in which the course of true love did not run
smooth. The first line, ' the light of day was darkened to the
lovers,' I take to mean that their fate was like that of Paolo and
Francesca. With scura compare the aer fierso of Inf. v. 89.
NOTES 197
Who the lovers were I have not been able to discover. If we
keep the reading of the text, Gigliofiore may be an equivalent
for Fiordiligi ; Asmondo is a name unknown to me in the
Charlemagne cycle. My colleague, Prof. Brandin, suggests to
me that it might be better to read ' a Giglia e a Fioresmondo ' ;
but this does not carry us any further towards the identification
of the personages. Still, the general meaning can hardly be
mistaken.
1. 3. agio : probably here • I have '.
1. 6. d' amor lo saggio : ' how love turns out '. saggio =
' test ' or ' proof ', as elsewhere.
1. 9. auro matto seems to mean unburnished gold (cf. Ger.
matt), gold that is unwrought and therefore pure.
I. II. 'so may God draw him from evil.' — tragallo, lo traga.
1. 12. non creda a vista: like ?ie crede colori. — matto, in
the usual sense of ' mad '.
Stanza 6. This is obviously spurious : it corresponds with
nothing in the poem to which this is a reply, and it is impossible
that anything could follow the comiato or envoi. The style,
too, is very different. The fact of its occurrence in the other
two MSS. looks as if these were not wholly independent of the
Vatican. Possibly it belongs to some other poem on similar
lines, and was transferred to this by some scribe who thought it
formed a good summary of the general drift of the poem. Line 3,
too, is an obvious allusion to No. XXIX, St. 1, 1. 2.
1. 4. terzoletto : ' tercelet ', the young male falcon.
1. 8. m' e mestieri : ' is necessary to me '.
XXXII.
Of Betto Mettifucco no record seems to exist, nor has any
other piece of his been preserved. From the style of this he
may be judged to have been contemporary with the earlier
Pisans. There is nothing very remarkable about the piece, but
it expresses, rather gracefully, the usual commonplaces. The
stanza is of sixteen lines, 4, 8, 12, 16 being of eleven syllables,
the rest of seven. Rime-scheme : ABCDABCDEEFfGHHIiG.
Stanza i, 1. 10. contezza: 'kindliness', or 'delicacy'; so
198 NOTES
Matteo di Dino Frescobaldi, 'Leggiadra se', vezzosa, conta e
bella, e di virtu fiorita'. Also probably the ' saette conte' of
Purg. ii. 67. See my glossary to Purg., s.v. conto.
1. 12. contanza: A.R.V. acontansa. aconta is used by
Petrarch and Boccaccio in the sense of ' to make acquaintance
with ', • accost '. Dante prefers the form contezza, equally but
more directly from Latin cognitus.
Stanza 2, 1. 8. rafino : see note to No. XVIII, St. 1, I. 2.
Stanza 3, 1. 3. auso : probably = oso, but it is possible that
it may be from the other ausare = ' to be used '. — Note again
the inability or unwillingness to reveal the secret flame.
1. 8. aiuto: this is the reading of the MS. A.R.V. reads
aiuta, taking viso as the subject, but the meaning seems to be,
* If I do not do something for myself, I do not think I shall
escape the face for which,' &c— lazioso: the more usual form
is lezioso, probably shortened for delizioso.
I. 10. smiro : the s seems to have no particular force, any
more than in sgaardo for guardo.
Stanza 4, 1. 2. Unless we are, very exceptionally, to read
mia as a dissyllable, one syllable would seem to be missing in
this line. — natura gives no very satisfactory sense ; what we
want is some word implying ■ service ' or ' devotion '.
II. 3-12. Again the favourite example of reckless devotion in
the Old Man of the Mountain and his assassins.
1. 6. MS. has passa in, which again leaves the line a syllable
short. The subjunctive would be more idiomatic, but an even
simpler emendation would be to read passar.
1. 7. latino : as in Par. iii. 63. See note No. XXVI, St. 1 , 1. 3.
I. 10. in bel verdero: ' in his fair pleasance'. MS. has in
del. verdero : Lat. viridarium ; the other form, vergiero,
Fr. verger, representing viridiarium.
II. 9-12 indicate the effects of the Hashish with which the
1 Assassins ' were drugged.
Stanza 5, 11. 3, 4. Note that faro aquisto is treated as a
single transitive verb. See note to No. XXX, St. 2, 1. 1.
I. 4. fallo = ' blunder'.
II. 7, 8. ' In a place where the Creator put together so many
beauties that they surpassed those of others.' Oltragio has
NOTES 199
here its primary meaning of ' surpassing ' or ' supsereding ', from
which that of ' injuring ', ' outraging ', easily comes. In Purg.
ii. 94, ' nessun m' e fatto oltraggio,' we find the word in a transi-
tion stage : ' nothing beyond what happens to others, and so no
injury '.
XXXIII.
Odo delle Colonne is just a tangible figure. He can hardly
have been the brother of the judge Guido, but was undoubtedly
a member of the same great family, and may quite possibly have
held office under Frederick at Messina. In Boniface VI II's Bull
of 1297, in which he appears in company with ' the Roman
Emperor Frederick of accursed memory', he is stated, says
Monaci, to have been dead forty years. In V.R.V. the two
poems of his which are preserved stand between those of the
Notary and Rinaldo d'Aquino, so that he probably belongs to
the earliest group. The present piece, it will be seen, is put into
the mouth, not of the lover, as usual, but of a forlorn lady. The
stanzas are of twelve lines, all of seven syllables. The rime-
scheme is very simple : ABABABCDCDCD.
Stanza 1, 1.3. fiata: note that this word is of three syllables ;
the i does not represent a Latin /, but is original, whether the
word be, as Diez thinks, a derivative of via or represents a Latin
vicata from vices — ' turns '. In Dante it is nearly always three
syllables ; indeed, where it is not, the text is probably doubtful.
Later, with Petrarch and others, it seems to have been treated
as the exigencies of metre might require.
1.6. guernita =' furnished ', 'fitted out'; from a Teutonic
root meaning ' to take heed for ', whence also our * warn ' ;
' garnish ' is another variety of the same word through the French.
1. 8. Note the accent thrown back for the sake of the rime.
Stanza 2, 1. 1 . tapinella : ' wretched '. tapino, from ranuvos,
is one of the few Greek words preserved in Italian.
1. 4. conquisa: see note to No. XXVIII, St. 5, 1. 6.
1. 10. acorre morte : cf. Inf. xiii. 118.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. in cielato : the regular phrase for lovers'
stolen meetings.
1. 8. scanoscienza : almost ' discourtesy '.
200 NOTES
1. 10. intenza: apparently 'disputes'. See note to No. X,
St. 2, 1. 10.
Stanza 4, 1. 2. tra : imperative of trarre.
1. 5. che : again the indefinite relative. Che lo suo = lo cui,
but with a slight suggestion of ■ the reason why '.
J. 9. cangiata: there seems nothing except the needs of
rime to account for this false concord, or for the feminine dura
in the next line. Of course one might get over the difficulty by
reading ' la conn' a (or ?) cangiata \ MS. has ' ora locore '.
Stanza 5, 11. 5-8. A somewhat amusing touch about the
tenderness towards the lover and the ferocity to the supposed
rival.
1. 12. gallo : cf. note to No. XXX, St. 5, 1. 10.
XXXIV.
Ruggierone of Palermo is only known to us by the ascription
to him of two poems in the Vatican MS., and in the Palatine,
and even one of these, that here given, is assigned to Re Federigo,
probably the Sicilian king of that name. The stanzas of this
poem are of ten lines, 1, 2, 4, 5 of seven syllables, the rest of
ten. Rime-scheme : ABCABCDDEE. The verses purport to
be written by a Crusader for transmission to his lady at home.
Stanza 2, 11. 1, 3. Cf. note to No. XXVII, St. 1, 1. 5 —
vio = veggio. The MS. has via, and in line 4 desia, but the
subjunctive seems unnecessary.
1. 4 It would probably be better to omit e.
1. 6. riso e gioco : frequently coupled, as in the last piece,
St. 2, 1. 6.
1. 7. sengnamente: see note to No. II, St. 4, 1. 6. Perhaps
' accomplishment ' would render the word here. It seems un-
certain whether it is singular or plural, ente might stand for
either ento or enti. If we take it as plural we ought probably,
with Monaci, to read suo.
1. 9. disdotto : ' diversion ', ' amusement '. From Latin dis-
ducere -» ' to lead away ', that is, ' from the business of life ' ;
' divert ', ' distract ' convey a similar idea. The word is probably
NOTES 201
borrowed from French dedicit. It does not seem to have become
incorporated in Italian. In Provencal desduire is used by Giraut
de Bornelh in the poem Si per mon Sobretotz ; but Gloss. Occ.
does not recognize it. (Dedurre, as in Par. viii. 121. Fr.
d/duz're=' to deduce' is from Latin didiccere, and is altogether
a different word.)
Stanza 3, 1. 1. Omitted by Allacci.
1. 4. acatto. See note to No. XXV, St. 1, I. 6.
1. 9. atassa : a word of doubtful signification and rare occur-
rence. It occurs in a poem ascribed to Guido Guinizelli, Contra
lo meo volere, where Val. interprets it by ' troubles ', a meaning
it will equally well bear here, but this of course is only a mere
' shot ' from the context.
Stanza 4,1. 2. MS. valafiore disoria, 'go to the flower of
Syria'. But this is clearly wrong; the poem is obviously
addressed to a lady at home, and not to any ' flower of Syria '.
The alteration of one letter which I have made restores the
right sense.
1. 10. degia : ' may deem it her duty '.
XXXV.
The stanzas are of fifteen lines, I, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7 being of seven
syllables, 13 of five, and the rest of eleven. Rime-scheme :
ABBC ABBC DDEEEFF. In Stanza 3, line 9 is missing.
Stanza 1, 1. 1. This line occurs also in No. XXIII as the
first of the fourth stanza.
Stanza 2, 1. i. manti: All. has inatiti. The readings will
of course be practically indistinguishable in MS.
Stanza 3, 1. 5. s'adastia. This adastiare appears to be of
Teutonic origin and akin to our * haste ' (see Diez, s.v. astiu) ;
distinct from a similar verb from astio {Purg. vi. 20), ' hatred ',
' envy '. Only the second sense seems to be recognized by
Crusca ; but the two have obviously a tendency to blend. Thus
in the Italian version of Brunetti's Trfcor (vii. yj) adastiano is
used to represent the estrivoient of the original (No. III. ii,
ch. 72), where it is hard to say whether ' vie' or 'strive ' be the
precise meaning implied by the words.
202 NOTES
1. 9. As mentioned above, a line has evidently dropped out
here, leaving speranza without a rime ; a fact which seems to
have escaped the notice of all the editors.
XXXVI.
This anonymous little poem, simple and pathetic as it is,
though not on a level with the beautiful threnody of Giaco-
mino Pugliese (No. XIV), has much of the same sincerity of
sorrow. In this case it is the lady who mourns for a lost lover.
He appears to be no imaginary person, but lord of the little terri-
tory of Scarlino in the Tuscan Maremma. The stanzas are of
nine lines, 1, 3, 5, 6, 8 being of eight syllables, and therefore
trochaic, 2, 4, 7, 9 of the ordinary iambic hendecasyllables. The
rhythm is very nearly that of ' Who is Sylvia ', but can be more
closely indicated by a rough rendering : —
Ruthless death, thou fierce destroyer,
All blame thou sure deservest.
Rime-scheme: ABABCCDCD.
Stanza i, I. 5. Con ti facca: this is the reading of the MS.,
and seems to mean 'keep yourself to yourself. The variant
suggested in the footnote seems to make the sense run some-
what easier.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. diporto : ' pleasure ', ' entertainment '.
Stanza 3, 1. 1. micidera : ' homicide '.
I. 3. me : notice the hiatus before e. Perhaps we should
read meve.
II. 8, 9. Cf. Chaucer's Knight :—
He never yet no vilanie ne sayde
In alle his lif, unto no manere wight.
Stanza 4, 1. 4. fe : MS. faciea, which gives the line a syl-
lable too many.— soperchianza = ' overbearing '.
1. 5. piano : probably = ' accessible '.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. colonna maremmana : Casini says that
the reference is to Colonna di Buriano, a small town a little
north of Grosseto, in the neighbourhood of which we may
suppose that Baldo caught his death.
NOTES 203
1. 8. Monaci retains the gientile of the MS., but it destroys
the metre, and I have followed A.R.V. in omitting it.
XXXVII.
This poem (which Val. assigns to Guido delle Colonne) has
no special merit, save a certain simplicity and elegance of diction,
to distinguish it from the many others on the same theme.
The stanzas, in number, as usual, five, are of ten lines, all save
7, 8, 9 being of eleven syllables. These three are of seven.
Rime-scheme : ABABABCDCcD.
Stanza 1, 1. 3. The syntax of this line is somewhat curious :
distrugo is intransitive, ' I waste away,' but presently it has to
be understood in the transitive sense, after foco.
1. 7. MS. mabene. The ma must clearly be omitted.
Stanza 2, 1. 4. alapidato : ' stony'.
1. 5. lasasse = lasciasse.
1. 7. a Deo : the use of a is somewhat curious ; as it were,
' at God '.
1. 8. chi . . . dar. Wiese (Part III, Section 124) gives an
instance from Guido Fava of this construction, infinitive with
relative, but desires corroboration of it. This passage may
supply it.
1. 9. accaduto : a note in V.R.V. says that an erasure has
obliterated about eight letters before to. Val. reads ismarruto,
a doubtful form. The suggestion in the text seems simpler.
1. 10. MS. ' evenuto neseno amale fiortto '. A.R.V. omits
e venuto. It might be better to read e ne venuto sono, to keep
the internal rime in its proper place.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. goleato : goleare, see note to No. XXX,
St. 2, 1. 8.
1. 10. riditto : V.R.V. ditto. A.R.V., following Val., de-
litto. riditto in the sense of ' no need to say it twice ', or possibly
' without contradiction '.
Stanza 4, 1. 2. Note Dio thrown in as a kind of expletive.
Exactly equivalent to our use of ' the deuce'. — chi . . . con-
sigliare : construction again as in St. 2, I. 8.
1. 7. se non seems to be treated as one syllable, perhaps
pronounced sen.
2o4 NOTES
1. 9. tenore : probably ' bondage ' as in No. XXIX, St. 1 , 1. 4.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. novella: a favourite epithet applied to an
ode which the poet is sending forth, especially in the poets
towards the end of the century.
XXXVIII.
This anonymous piece again expresses in an elegant form the
usual commonplaces. From the smoother style and less archaic
diction we may suppose it to have been written, or at least
re-edited, in the latter part of the century. The stanza is
almost identical with that of No. XXXIV, with one difference,
which will be noted in the rime-scheme. This is as follows :
ABCABCCDEE. It will be observed that D has no corre-
sponding rime, a feature almost or quite unique in these poems.
A remarkable feature is the devotional tone of the whole.
Stanza 1, 1. 1. It will be observed that this line corresponds
very closely with the opening of Guido Guinizelli's ode (No. LXI)
as this is given in the Vat. MS. The reading of the MS.,
however, differs from that of V. E. i. 15, where it is quoted by
Dante, so that there can be no reason to suppose, as some
have done, that the present piece should be ascribed to Guini-
zelli. In some respects, indeed, it more resembles Guittone. In
V. E. ii. 12, where Dante quotes it again, he appears to ascribe
it to Guido Ghisilieri.
1. 2. compreso : one is rather tempted to suggest conqaiso,
as corresponding better with donato in the next line.
I. 6. melglio here, and in St. 3, scanned as a dissyllable,
points somewhat to the later date of the poem.
II. 9, 10. Note the obvious devotional allusion in magniflcato
and coronato.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. regnar servire: here there can be no doubt
of the source whence this expression is taken. The words occur
in our Prayer-book in the second Collect at Morning Prayer, in
the form ' Whose service is perfect freedom '. But in the Latin
original, ascribed to Gelasius (fifth cent. A.D.), the form is ' cui
servire regnare est '.
1. 9. d' ogni grazia . . . compiuta. Here, again, an obvious
NOTES 205
allusion to gratia plena. — vertu : not ' virtue ' in our sense, but
more nearly ' power ', as in Inf. ii. 76. — compiuta must be read
compita for the rime's sake.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. assembro : ' liken ', ' compare ' ; from Latin
assemplare, for exemplare = t.o copy. See Inf. xxiv. 4.
1. 8. See Ps. ciii (Vulg. cii), verse 11.
Stanza 4, 11. 2, 3. 'The pain of love seems to me greater
good than the good of love.' asembra is here intransitive.
1. 7. sostene : a singular verb, after two or more substantives
coupled by e, is common in Italian at least down to the sixteenth
century. Curiously enough, when they are coupled by con the
verb is usually, if not always, plural.
Stanza 5, 1. 6. A good instance of the way in which the
terms of feudalism were employed to express the relation
between the lover and the lady.
1. 10. 'Your vertu in deserving love is greater than any my
love can have in serving you.'
XXXIX.
This poem, again, is a fair exercise on the usual themes, the
spring-time, inciting to sing the lady's praises and the lover's
happiness. It probably belongs to an earlier period than the
last, being in almost the earliest and simplest form. The open-
ing curiously resembles that of No. LIV, by Bonagiunta of
Lucca, but this need not imply any relation between the two
pieces, the imagery being part of the regular troubadour's stock.
The stanzas are of nine lines, all short. Rime-scheme :
ABABCDDCA.
Stanza I, 1. 8. cagiuoli : from Latin caveola, with gender
changed. Literally ' cages ', but here merely cages formed by
the boughs among which the birds sing.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. MS. Spera chemai fireso. This appears to
give neither metre nor sense, so I have ventured on the slight
alteration in the text.
1. 3. col chiaro viso. See note to No. I, St. 5, 1. 5.
1. 8. Morgana : Morgan le Fay, known to all readers of the
Arthurian Romances. As her name implies, she must have
been of Welsh origin, and connected with the sea.
2o6 NOTES
Stanza 3, 11. 5 sqq. Cf. No. XVI II, St. 3, 11. 5 sqq.
Stanza 4, 1. 3. intenza : see note to No. X, St. 2, 1. 10.
I. 4. invia: MS. minvia. A.R.V., retaining this, reads sem-
bian, of which it is hard to see the meaning. In any case the
passage is difficult ; the only meaning I can suggest is, ' The
day sets me thinking more of her, it sends her likeness'.
Stanza 5, 1. 4. Unless we are to read mio for suo, amore
must have the sense here of amante.
Stanza 6, 1. 3. d' amore clearly cannot stand. The emenda-
tion I have suggested in a note saves the rime and gives a good
sense. (F amore is exactly what a scribe, writing perhaps from
memory, would almost mechanically give after novi canti.
II. 5, 6. The evil speakers, whom the lady is begged not to
believe, are other stock personages in these little dramas. See
e. g. No. XVI, St. 3.
Stanza 7, 1. 1. Note that before the two consonants at the
beginning of the next word Dio is two syllables.
11. 1-4. Cf. the last stanza of No. XV.
1. 4. The 0 in eramo must be dropped, since leal seems
to be always two syllables, though in bealo, &c, the vowels are
usually merged. The Lat. legalis would sufficiently account
for this.
I. 6. ispellamento : none of the dictionaries seems to re-
cognize spellare or any of its compounds. It must be equiva-
lent to the French e'pder, Pr. espelar ; the original signification
of which seems to have been • to relate ', ' recount '. Eng.
' spell' in both senses is of the same origin. The etymology is
Teutonic ; cf. Goth, spillon in the same sense. Here it might
almost be rendered by ' converse '.
II. 8, 9. ' May he be taken in an evil noose, and condemned
to be sawn asunder.' To save the metre in the last line,
D'Ancona suggests the reading giuggiato, which I have adopted
in the text, where the MS. has giudicato. Possibly we should
also read da for di.
XL.
As I have said elsewhere, a good deal more ink has been shed
over this piece than its intrinsic merits deserve. In A.R.V.
NOTES 207
Professors D'Ancona and Comparetti allot 214 pages to it out
of the 532 of which their first volume consists. Others have
also written about it at considerable length. It was first printed
in a fragmentary state by Allacci, and a good deal of the interest
which it aroused is doubtless due to the fact that it was for
some time regarded as the earliest extant specimen of Italian
poetry. The first edition of D. G. Rossetti's work, best known
as Dante and his Circle, appeared, as will be remembered,
under the title The Early Italian Poets from Ciullo d'Alcamo
to Dante Alighieri. Rossetti's translation, it may be observed,
though spirited, is very far from accurate. When the poem
came to be more studied, certain allusions, which will be noted
presently, proved that its date could not be much antecedent to
1 240 ; so that it was preceded by several of the pieces in the
present selection ; nor indeed should I have included it, were it
not that Dante did it the honour of quoting its third line, as
a specimen of the vulgar Sicilian language, in V. E. i. 12.
Indeed, it bears many traces of courtly, or at least artificial,
origin. It has few merits, save a swinging rhythm, and in
places a certain coarse humour. It is in no sense a canzone,
but rather what is known as a contrasto : an amoebaean dialogue
between the lover and the lady, the former (whom sundry
Italian commentators treat as though he were identical with
the author, and speak of as ' Ciullo ', or, in the more recent
version of the name, ' Cielo ') being represented as a roving
vagabond, who pays his addresses to the lady. She treats him
at first with disdain, but meets with the usual fate of the woman
who deliberates. The piece is obviously entirely dramatic, and
no inference whatever can be drawn from it as to the author's
position in life. The form of it will remind English readers
somewhat remotely of ' The Nutbrown Maid ' ; though it seems
hardly fair to the latter to suggest such a comparison. The
stanzas are of five lines, the first three being iambics of 15
syllables ; in fact the common English ballad measure, of which
a typical instance is : ' A captain bold of Halifax, who lived in
country quarters ', while the last two are the regular ' hendeca-
syllabics'. The stanzas are so many and so short that I have
departed from the system of reference adopted elsewhere in this
208 NOTES
book, and given the stanza-numbers only. If readers will bear
in mind that there are three stanzas on- the first page, and six
on every subsequent one, they will have little difficulty in finding
the place referred to.
Stanza i. There is evidently something wrong about the
second line, for why should a lady's attractions appeal to other
ladies ? Grion boldly changes le donne to li homini, putting
the other words into the masculine ; but what seems to be
wanted is a substitute for disiano, some word implying ' envy ',
as suggested by invidiata in Stanza 9. Might it not be
finvidianol — The MS. gives trami ; I have followed the read-
ing of V.E. — focora : for fochi. This irregular feminine
plural formed on the analogy of Lat. corpora, tempora, &c, is
very common in early Italian, and not peculiar to Sicily. See
Diez, ii, p. 27.
Stanza 2. arompere : ' to plough \ — abere for avere ; b for
v being, as we have already seen in bolontate, a regular Sicilian
form. — monno : for mondo. — cavelli : for capelli.— aritonno :
1 clip all round ', i. e. ' become a nun '. Probably from ritonda,
though doubtless modified in sense by tondere.
Stanza 4. atalenti : ' make me wish ', from talento in the
usual meaning of • inclination '. — paremo : mio padre. Forms
like mogliatna, &c, are not uncommon in Boccaccio and other
Tuscans. — arigolgano: rivolgano.—\\. 4, 5. 'However well
your coming tasted to you, I advise you to look sharp about
going away.'
Stanza 5. difensa . . . agostari. ' An inferior unjustly at-
tacked by a superior was allowed to invoke the Sovereign's name,
and this was called aDefensa. If a Lord robbed his vassal after
this outcry, he was debtor to the Treasury as well as to the
wronged sufferer after a civil process ; but this did not apply
to offences against the person ' (Kington Oliphant, Life of
Frederick II, i. 387). This system was instituted in 1231, and
the Augustals were first struck in the same year, so the poem
cannot have been written before that ; and, seeing that the
system and the coins had evidently become quite familiar things
by the time it was written, we may easily add a few years —
unless, indeed, they were introduced into this poem with a view
NOTES 209
to advertising them. It may perfectly well have been written by
some one about the Court. — The allusion to the father's property
in Bari suggests that he was supposed to be a person of some
position. We can hardly suppose that the scene is laid in Bari,
since Dante, in the passage above referred to, is clearly dis-
tinguishing Sicilians from Apulians, so that we must suppose
the action to take place in the island itself. — bella : the form of
this word shows either that the poem was not written in the
purest Sicilian, or that it was edited by the probably Tuscan
scribe. The pure Sicilian form would be biddcu
Stanza 6. perperi : according to Nan., Byzantine gold coins,
called vnipnvpoi (extra-fired). — Saladino : The use of Saladin's
name with the present tense a has been adduced as evidence
of the early date of the poem, Saladin having died in 1 193. But
the name of this famous personage may very well have survived
among less well-informed persons in out-of-the-way parts of
Christendom as a general designation for Saracen sovereigns,
a result to which its resemblance to Soldano would contribute.
The difficulty would be removed altogether by expunging a
and reading quanto, not a very violent remedy. Even if we
retain the a the lady's reference to the Soldano in the
next line as a distinct personage from ' the Saladino ' shows
that she was but imperfectly acquainted with recent Saracen
history.
Stanza 7. parabole : the full form of the word which
became parole. Here, as in perperi above, and elsewhere in
this poem, we find the Greek forms retained. — adimina for
domina. — amonesta : ' admonishes '.
Stanza 8. er —jeri.
Stanza 9. Donne, the reading of the MS., is somewhat
weak, and gives a syllable too many to the line. Monaci reads
dot, presumably dogli me, but this does not save the metre.
May we not read Dio quante, &c. ? — schiantora : ' splinters '.
Plural Yike/ocora in Stanza 1. — pensanno : pensando.
Stanza 10. male : ' to your own hurt '. As in Purg. iv. 72.
— treze : 'tresses'. — consore : 'sister in a community'. —
arendo : arendersi, the regular term for entering a religious
house ; so renduto, Purg. xx. 54. — magione : Fr. maison, Lat.
210 NOTES
mansio. Used specially for the abode of a religious order, as of
the Templars, in Villani, viii. 92.
Stanza ii. viso cleri: see note to No. XX, St. 2, 1. 1.
Here the form is more directly French, another detail which
points to the artificiality of the piece. — dimino : cf. adimina in
Stanza 7. The change of 0 to i in the unaccented syllable is of
course common enough.
Stanza 12. Boime : a less elegant form of the usual oimc.
— ao = d, somewhat nearer to the original habeo. — blestiemato :
here again the passive participle used in active sense ; note the
/ of blasphemia retained, as in the Provencal blasietnar, another
indication of hybridism in the poem. — chiu : for piu, a Sicilianism
which we have already found in these poems.
Stanza 14. adomanimi : dimandimi.—raon peri : here,
again, a French influence is obvious.
Stanza 15. bolt a (voltd) so tana : ' an over-turn from
below ' ; probably a wrestling term, though the dictionaries do*
not seem to recognize it. — villana : ' churlish '.
Stanza 16. manganiello: a mangonel, the well-known
engine used in mediaeval times for battering a fortress ; here
generally for ' assault '. — groria : r for / is genuinely Sicilian. —
chiaci : piaci.
Stanza 17. vitama : as paremo in Stanza 4 and elsewhere.
— deboci=f/ debbo. — mosera : so the MS. Most editors have
altered to movera (the subject being of course the ' danger '
referred to in the preceding line). But is it not possible that
mosera or mossera may be a dialectal future perfect, formed
directly from the past tense (movo—movero ; mossi — mossero) ?
— ai' : the first person is clearly required here, and Val. is
probably right in reading aio, or perhaps it should be ao as in
Stanza 12.
Stanza 18. abero : ebbero. — Note that the second line lacks
a syllable at the beginning, a familiar feature in the old ballad
poetry of all languages.— nonde : See note to No. VII, St. 1,
1. 6. — gironde: girono inde ; in later Italian it would have been
ne girono, ' many went away angry '. Perhaps tnolto feri would
be better ; ' they went away very angry ' seems to give a more
lively touch. — 1. 4. V.R.V. intendi bella bene do chebol dire ;
NOTES 211
bella being, as the editors tell us, erased in ihe MS. Val.
boglio dire. — onze : presumably of silver.
Stanza i g. garofani: literally ' clove-pinks \ Gr. icapvo-
(f>v\\ov. Possibly it may here be equivalent to our ' swells '. —
salma 'nd 'ai : written as one word in the MS. Val. emends
che a casata mandai, ' which I have sent to your house '. But it
seems quite possible to extract a better sense from the words as
they stand. ' Not that you have any burden of them.' He is
beginning to return banter for banter. — m' assai : ' try me ',
' essay me '. So the wooer in Midas : ' try me, ply me, prove
ere you deny me '. — 1. 3. ' If there is a head-wind, and it turns,
and you come to shore.' — prai : piaggie ; Lat.plaga, whence, of
course, the r.
Stanza 20. macara : more usually magari, ' would that '.
A curious word, surviving from Gr. (landpiov = ' blessed would
it be, if, and so, 'would that'. It is still in use. — acori:
accorare signifies ' to touch the heart ' in any way, here ' to vex '.
In Purg. v. 57, and Par. viii. 73, the original idea is retained
with a somewhat different signification. — dengnara : not the
future, but a pluperfect (Lat. dignaverat) with a conditional
sense, such as this tense has acquired in Spanish cantara, &c. :
1 He had not ventured '.
STANZA 21. arma : alma, anima. — pantasa: this word is
variously explained. Val.'s tutta from an imaginary Greek
naprao-la may be dismissed, as a verb is clearly wanted. Nan-
nucci's farnetica and Grion's anela come really to the same
thing. From Greek (pavraaia came the O.Fr. form pantoisie,
' a nightmare ', whence our ' pant ', and kindred forms occur of
course in the other languages, as Italian fantasia. The form
of the word here seems again to point to the artificial origin of
the poem, p for /not being a Sicilian peculiarity. — chiamarano :
here the conditional pluperfect is even more obvious than in
dengnara above. — malvasa : malvagia ; curiously enough, this
word seems to have nothing to do with malo, but to come from
the Gothic balwawesei, ' wickedness ', from balwo, akin to our
bale. — traita : the form traito {traditd) for traditore is not
recognized by the dictionaries, but it is unmistakable in
Stanza 24, and Nan. quotes an example of it from Fra Guittone.
PJ
2T2 NOTES
Stanza 22. chissa : questa. — persone : for persona. See
Wiese, § 51. The meaning here appears to be almost
= ' personality ' — ' you cease to exist ', ' there 's an end of
you '. — sormonare : probably another French word, surmener,
' to over-drive ', ' weary out '. Nan. would read sermonare,
adducing Prov. sermonar, which does not appear to exist, but
which he has apparently confused with somoner = ' to summon',
and French sermonner, which is a later word, and does not
mean, as he would interpret his sermonare, 'to chatter'. — ave,
in the frequent sense of ^tnere is ', te being dependent on
aiutare.
STANZA 23. istrani : for istranio. Both strano and stranio
are found, the latter corresponding more nearly to Latin
extraneus. — canno : quando. — lo 'ntaiuto. Val. and Nan. read
lo trajuto, and explain it as meaning ' a dress with a train '.
The former, while allowing that intaiuto may also be the name
of a garment, says that he has made many inquiries among
Sicilians, including ladies, but has been unable to find out that
any such name now exists in Sicily. Might' it not be ensaiuto,
1 silk-trimmed ' ?
Stanza 24. Note that again a syllable is lacking at the
beginning of the second division of the first line ; probably the
J would be sounded almost as iy.—covao se fosse, &c,
apparently implying that the garment in question was of no
very costly material.— sciamito : 'velvet', 'samite', from Gr.
i^afiiros — ' six-thread ', presumably because woven of that
number.
Stanza 25. misera: a conditional formed direct from the
Latin pluperfect, miseram. — trobaret': trovereiti. — rina : arena.
— impretare : impetrare.
Stanza 26. disdutto. See note to No. XXXIV, St. 2, 1. 9.
Stanza 27. fallo : ' I fail ', from fallare.
Stanza 28. di core paladino : ' with the heart of a valiant
man', or, with a comma after core, 'my valiant man'. The
lady's resistance is breaking down, she now only asks for a
little delay.
Stanza 29. scannami : ' cut my throat ', from canna,
a slang term for gola (Acharizio). — scalfi : Nan. explains by
NOTES 213
sbucci, ' peel ' ; but ' boil ', Lat. excalifacere, seems a good deal
more probable.
Stanza 32. minespreso : Prov. menspreizar, Fr. mepriser.
— arenno here is simply ' surrender '.
XLI.
This again is a burlesque piece, and I should not have
included it, had not it too been cited by Dante, V. E. i. 11, as
a skit on poems composed in the dialects of Rome, Ancona,
and Spoleto. He gives the author's name as ' quidam Floren-
tine, nomine Castra'. There was a poet named Terino da
Castel Fiorentino, a contemporary of Honesto da Bologna, two
of whose poems are in the Vatican 3793 ; and one is tempted to
think that Dante may have got his name inaccurately. But the
MS. assigns this to an otherwise unknown Messer Osmano. It
is probably the most puzzling piece in the whole collection.
The language baffles the Italian commentators ; who, when in
doubt, are apt to say with the German commentator on
Aristophanes : ' mihi quidem arridet interpretatio obscenior '.
I cannot profess to have mastered every detail or explained
every word ; but in my view there is nothing improper in the
poem. A vagabond personage, of lower rank than the hero of
the last, meets a woman carrying food to the field-workers. He
makes discreditable proposals to her ; she slaps his face, and
sets him to work. That evening, or next morning, he departs
with an aching back and something in his wallet.
The stanzas are of ten lines, in another familiar ballad-
measure ; normally \j-^,^j-^j\j-\j ('a day I shall ever re-
member') represents it in English, but an extra syllable (or
syllables) is freely admitted at the beginning, as in the first line,
where una may be regarded as extra metric?n. Rime-scheme :
ABABABCDCD.
The story is partly narrated, partly in the form of dialogue.
Stanza i, 1. 1. fermana : Vat. MS. formana. The Grenoble
MS. has una ferinava, and an annotator, possibly Corbinelli,
has underlined the quotation in red, and drawn a vertical line,
cutting off the va. This is hardly distinguishable irom fer?nana,
2i4 NOTES
which has become the accepted meaning. But the sense is far
from obvious. Strictly speaking, fermana can only mean a
woman from Fermo, but what should a woman of Fermo be
doing in Tuscany ? It is difficult to avoid the conviction that
the word has something to do with ' farm ' ; ferma in this sense
did not come into use until long after, but ferine already
existed in French, and, as we have seen, words of French
origin are not uncommon in these poems. — iscoppai : if this
word is to stand it can hardly mean anything but ' I spied '.
The Gr. aMmeiv may have continued in use in the south-east of
Italy, or Sicily, and have spread northwards for poetical pur-
poses. But it is a question whether we should not read scappb,
' came out '.
1. 2. cita cita: so the Gr. MS. and Vat. MS. reads cietto,
probably =cfteto, 'quietly'; cita, 'with speed', however, fits the
sense much better. — sen gia : Vat. MS. sagia. — aina : ' hurry ' ;
from Lat. agere, as retina from mere, says Diez ; who, however,
will not identify it with a similar word in late Latin meaning
' the tongue of a balance ', though one would have said that the
two senses might very well have had the same origin.
1. 3. impingnoli has evidently some connexion with imfin-
guare, ' to fatten '. May we conceive that the objects in question
were some kind of suet-dumpling like the German Nudel ?
1. 4. saima : ' fat ', or ' grease ', Lat. sagina, ' fattening food '.
L 5. treccioli : looks as if it should mean ' hair-ribbons '.
1. 8. se mi viva : ' so may I live ', ' upon my life '. This
formula is familiar enough in Dante, e.g. Purg. ii. 16, 's' io
ancor lo veggia '. se represents here Lat sic, not si.
1. 9. cantaba: MS. caba, obviously a clerical error. The
suggested emendation seems obvious, though perhaps contaba
would be even better.
1. 10. ' Forse e 1' unico verso chiaro della poesia ' (D'Ancona).
— fantilla : ' maid-servant '.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. comannato : comandato ; here we have an
undoubtedly Sicilian form.
1. 2. rote : probably ' rocks ' (with allusion to the caba in the
preceding stanza). From Lat. rupta\ croda in this sense is
common in the south-eastern Alps. But this is generally identified
NOTES 215
with grotta, which is usually derived from cryptay Gr. upvirTT],
1 concealed ' ; though the juxtaposition of cava and rota here lends
some weight to Raynouard's suggestion of cava rota, which Diez
(from whom I take it) calls ' mehr sinnreich als richtig '.
1. 3. vitto : ' victuals '.
I.4. scotitoi : probably 'threshers' or 'winnowers'. — MS.
che non m' encaite ; men zote is the suggestion of Grion, who
interprets by zoppicchino ('lame,' 'unhandy'). To supply a
verb, I have altered che non to en' enno. Diez identifies zoto
with E^ench sot. The derivation of the words is uncertain.
zotico means ' rustic ', ' clownish ' ; the sense of the words would
thus be ' who are less of fools (or clowns) than you '.
1. 5. truffo evidently signifies a vessel of some kind, probably
a small barrel ; it might be OHG. truha, our ' trough ', in the
sense which it appears to have had of ' a wooden case '.
I. 6. scordai per : MS. scordassero.
II. 5, 6. The meaning is evidently ' Nor did I forget the gote
and scatoni to make a good broth ', though I am not able to
identify these viands, unless gote may signify beef or mutton
'cheeks ' such as might be used in making broth.
1. 8. MS. reads farfiata farfione. My emendation is some-
what bold, but it at least gives a sense : ' porridge of good meal '.
Grion, retaining farfiata, interprets as 'decotto di farfaro'
(bran-mash).
1. 9. leva te su: MS. levatitesso, which Grion interprets as
' man from the Levant ' ; with leva te su cf. levati suso in
Stanza 28 of the preceding poem.
1. 10. ' O you silly, stupid baboon ' ; milensagine in the sense
of ' silliness ' occurs in Boccaccio. The origin of the word is
obscure.
Stanza 3, 11. 1-3. Apparently ' I was in a bigger funk than
I should have been at the devil '. — tansin must mean ' so far
up to '.— timiccio must be read as timicc\
1. 4. mi died' : ' gave it me ', ' let me have it '. Cf. Purg.
ix. ill.
I.5. crepato: probably in the sense of the Yx.creve,' broken-
down '.
1. 7. cica : ' a little bit '. O.Fr. chiche, probably with gender
216 NOTES
changed, from Lat. ciccwn, literally ' the husk which encloses
the grain of corn ', used by Plautus. (The word is said to be
now used in Tuscany for the fag-end of a cigar.— G. de Gregorio,
Studj Glottologici.)
1. 8. nosciella : nuptials.
1. 9. ' Get out of that, and don't go through the corn ! ■
MS. esciona.
1. 10. 'Yes, I see your cheek shining,' no doubt from the
slap which she has administered ; arlucar = rilucere.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. aconsenchi : for aconsenti. MS. acorn-.
1. 2. 'I will give you baskets of peaches.' MS. perfici, which
A.R.V. retains.
I.3. moricie: presumably 'mulberries'.
1. 4. MS. tulli atortte. As I now perceive, we should read
tu ti a* torto, ' tu as tort '.
1. 5. al oclenchi : oailis clinatis, i. e. ' and not look at me '.
Such is the best suggestion I can make as to this queer-looking
word.
1. 6. 'I will add you colours in woven stuff.' tralici : tralicio,
Fr. treillis, f cloth woven of three threads/ Lat. trilicium ; prob-
ably modified in meaning by treil/e, Pr. trelha, It. tralcio, ' vine-
tendril '.
1.7. faccio rubesto: MS. rubusto ; ' act roughly ' ; for ru-
besto, Lat. robustus, cf. Purg. v. 125.
1. 8. sucotata : the only suggestion I can make is that we
should read scuotata — scossa, treating ai as a disyllable before
the sc, the meaning being ' shaken my resolution '.
1. 9. So the MS., except that it has rusto. The reading is
obviously corrupt, and Grion does not mend matters much by
writing Pirino Rusto. For ne sia I should suggest '» esso, and
possibly resta for resto, reading also rubesta in 1. 7 ; pirino
seems hopeless, unless we may take it to mean a ' pear-orchard '.
' Come here for to-day, stay in this pear-orchard '.
1. 10. 'And don't let me be made angry with your ogling.'
MS. edadochia.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. Grion would understand the first word to
mean al ab orlu, ' at day-break,' which gives a good sense :
' Next morning I went away weary '. We have seen already
NOTES 217
an apparent Latinism in oclenchi above.— alaterato : cf. Fr.
alte'rer.
1. 2. chera alvato : alvato is vox nihili, and I think we
might read lavorato era. — senza sollena : ' without drawing
breath '.
1. 3. battisaco, one can hardly doubt, is the German bettel-
sack, ' beggar's wallet ' ; bel (or perhaps ben) lavato, * well-
washed,' I take to be a slang term for ' well-furnished '.
1. 4. Probably mi 'I pose '», ' I put it on my back again ' (one
would like to read mi duolse, ' my back was aching from the
head downwards,' but this might be too much of a liberty to
take with the text).
1. 6. ' For she cast a kind breath over me.'
1. 7. essa : MS. esso. — miffui apatovito : ' I made it up
with her'.
1. 8. I suspect that altrei contains the Prov. atitrejar, Fr.
octroyer, ' to permit ' (Lat. auctoricare). The line is a syllable
short, and perhaps we should read altrerei, ' and never would
I allow myself there again '.
1. 9. fare : MS./ai. ' Never act like a foolish man,' or, if we
read mal/ai, ' you do ill to act,' &c. -iscionito : this word seems
to be unknown to the dictionaries ; if we retain it, it might mean
4 devoid of shame ', the prefix set usually corresponding to ex and
the remainder from the same root which has given us Fr. honir,
Pr. aunir, It. onta, &c, but perhaps it may be better to read
scinmito, which also fits the metre better.
1. 10. sei : MS. ei. ' It seems to me that you are quite a
master.'
XLII.
With Fra Guittone we enter upon a new phase of poetry.
The date of his birth is uncertain, but he died in 1294, probably
at Florence, where he had contributed to the foundation of the
Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli. He was the son of Michele
di Viva, a citizen of Arezzo, and Chamberlain of the Commune.
The name Guittone is obviously of Teutonic origin. The full
name of the poet generally known as Cino of Pistoja is said to
have been Guittoncino ; it may possibly have been only an
218 NOTES
augmentative of Guido. The prefix Fra is due to the fact that
about 1269 Guittone, who had hitherto led the ordinary life of
a man of the world, joined the Order of the Knights of S. Mary,
known to us from Dante and others as the Frati Gaudenti,
1 Friars who enjoyed life ' — since their rule was very easy, and
even married men were not required to abandon family life.
Guittone, however, appears, like Dante after him, to have under-
gone some kind of ! conversion \ His verses, which in his earlier
life were of the usual amatory character, became serious and
often devotional. Many of his odes, though somewhat rugged
in form, show a vein of elevated thought both moral and
political. It will be noticed that the canzone with him is
approaching the form which it ultimately took. The stanzas
are longer, and the shorter comiato at the end is a usual
feature. There are evidences that Dante must have been
indebted to him. This being so, it is curious that Dante
never refers to him save in terms of depreciation, e. g. Purg.
xxiv. 56, xxvi. 124 ; and V. E. i. 13, ii. 6. All these, no doubt,
have reference more to his style than to his matter, but one
would have expected some word of recognition for a poet whose
mind seems to have been to a great extent cast in the same
mould as Dante's own, and with whom Dante must have been
personally acquainted. Guittone's poetry was evidently well
known to Bembo and others of the sixteenth century, though
the poems assigned to him in the Giunta compilation of 1527
are for the most part spurious. The first extant collected
edition of his poetical works (for he was a prose writer also,
and many of his letters exist) appears to be that of Valeriani
in 1828.
The following ode is thick with Provengalisms, and is indeed
only too successful an imitation of the Provencal ' obscure rimes '.
Here and there resemblances will be found to No. XXVII. It
obviously belongs to the author's earlier period, and consists
of five fourteen-line stanzas and two of six lines. The lines are
all of eleven syllables save the tenth of the long stanzas and the
second of the short. Rime-scheme : ABCBABCBDDEEDE ;
for the short stanzas AABBAB. It is printed in the Giunta
of 1527.
NOTES 219
Stanza I, 1. 2. Note that gioia is beginning to be two
syllables. — appo : Lat. apud, * beside '.
I. 4. validore : 'a defender', a Provengal word ; ' I see that
nothing but death can be my defender '.
II. 5, 6. ' Annoy has little power before pleasure has been
felt, but afterwards it has only too much.' — tristore : another
Provencal form.
11. 7, 8. ' Poverty must needs present itself greater to one
who comes back to it than to one who first enters upon it.'
Notice again the Provencal forms ritornador, entradore.
1. 11. del meo paraggio appears to mean 'in comparison
with me '. Alunno interprets paraggio by paragone, ' touch-
stone,' citing Petr. Tri. Div. 115.
1. 13. mio forsenato : 'my own senselessness' ; for the use
of the adjective in place of the abstract noun cf. meo bello,
St. 5, 1. 4. forsenato (Mod.F r. forcene) is a compound of Lat.
forts and Germ. sinn.
1. 14. 'Nothing is any longer certain, save that he wishes
my ruin.'
Stanza 2, 1. 1. Co : come. — mal : ' to my own hurt '.— amaro
amore : a favourite play on words.
1. 3. piacientier : Prov. plazentieira.
1. 4. Val. shifts the comma to ben, and omits the e after
somma ; but somma appears to be here a subst. ' sum '.
1. 5. peggio : ' still more to my hurt '. — dibonaire : a French
word.
1. 8. Vat. MS. piu como mai. The emendation in the text
seems to me now unnecessary. Giunta : piu mai non.
1. 10. Note reina three syllables.
1. 11. I have inserted e before basso as necessary to the
balance of the sentence. Giunta : Ne~ re si ricco tin hitom di
vile, e basso.
1. 12. MS. nevostra pare reina amore. Giunta: CK Amor vie
phi no'l facciam tin sol passo. — aparer I understand to mean
' equal ' (Prov. parers) with reference to pare in 1. 9. — passo I be-
lieve to be also a Proven^alism in the sense of 'suffer 'or 'endure'.
1. 13. The reference to Lam. i. 12 can hardly be mistaken.
It was rendered more famous by Dante in V. N. § 7.
22o NOTES
Stanza 3, 1. 2. If, as suggested, we read oltre grato we may
compare Prov. estragrat = Fr. malgri.
1. 3. ostal d' ogni tormento : cf. Purg. vi. 76, di dolore
ostello.
1. 5. coralmente : 'in the heart', Prov. coralmen; used by
Dante in a sonnet, V. N. § 22, but not in D. C.
I. 7. fora : Lat. fueram, another instance of the plqpf. be-
come conditional. In this case we can exactly parallel it in
English, ' I had passed '.
II. 8 sqq. All this again is common form in the early rimers.
1. 11. opo : in later Italian d' uopo, Lat. opusfuerat, ' it had
been necessary \
Stanza 4, 11. 5, 6. Giunta : Ma cK eo non posso; I cib mi
fa ben tortoj di ritornare in miaforza, <? savere. But the lines
as they stand in V.R.V., though crabbed, give a good sense, ' but
herein I have no power, since force and knowledge are wrenched
from me and gone back to you '. Forzo for forza seems to be
a favourite with Guittone ; it recurs in the next stanza, and in
rime in the following poem.
1. 11. m' atteggi: 'shape myself. The word occurs in
Purg. x. 78.
1. 12. om: exactly the Fr. on.— mostra a dito: the digito
monstrare of Horace.
1. 13. si gabba : ' mocks ' ; for the reflexive cf. Fr. se moquer
de. The mockery applied to unfortunate lovers is a common-
place. It will be remembered how in V. N. § 14 the ladies si
gabbavano at Dante. The general idea may not improbably
have been taken from Ps. xxxi (Vulgate xxx. 12, 13). As we have
seen in several instances, there is a curious tendency to use
Scriptural no less than feudal phraseology to describe the rela-
tions between lover and lady.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. pun to fortunal : 'a stormy moment'.
fortuna in the sense of a storm at sea is common both in
Prov. and in It., e.g. Purg. xxxii. 116.
1. 4. doblo : a pure Provencalism. The Italian word of
course is doppio.
1. 5. pardeo : here we have French influence again.
1. 6. me, as often, for mi, but here dative.
NOTES 221
1. 7. eo : should we not read no, * I have ' ?
I. 8. e : not ' and', but ' too '. — chiavello : properly a pointed
spike. — stringere usually has the sense of 'gripe', 'strain to-
gether '. Here stringe must be equivalent to distrinse, ' strained
apart and so pierced,' but the meaning is somewhat obscure.
I. 10. aprovata : ' tested '.
II. 11, 12. Giunta: 'Che ben f& forza di mession d' havere:
Basso huom non puote in donna alta capere'. The lines as
they stand in the text seem almost unconstruable. Dimession
does not seem to be an Italian word, but to represent the
French demission, 'resignation,' and cafiare should no doubt
be d afiare. The general meaning I take to be : ' Power strained
too far (forzo) at times makes a lady who appears high resign
her right of possession over a man of low degree ' ; a sentiment
of which we have already had one or two instances. In other
words, ' the lord must not press his vassal too hard or he will
lose him'.
1. 13. v' agradio : ' was to your taste '.
Stanza 6, 1. 4. paraggio : see note above ; here it is clearly
' comparison '.
1. 5. ritornate : ' bring me back ' ; we should have expected
a future, but the use of the present, as in English, is not
unknown.
Stanza 7, 1. 6. o' : ove. — mistero : ' trade ' or ' craft ' ; Lat.
ministerium. ' Every work must be judged by its end ' ; an
obvious reminiscence of the opening chapter of Aristotle's
Ethics.
XLIII.
This again is obviously an early production. It is little more
han an exercise in ingenious riming. As will be seen, in each
case the rime-syllables consist of precisely the same letters as
in Nos. XXX and XXXI, whether contained in one word or
more. This, of course, was technically correct so long as the
meanings were different, but when carried through an entire
poem it becomes something of a tour de force, and usually
makes interpretation difficult, and the reader sympathizes with
Dante's condemnation of it as inutilis aeqtdvocatio quae semper
222 NOTES
sententiae qaidquam derogare videtur ( V. E. ii. 13). There are
five stanzas of twelve lines followed by two of six each, normally
of seven syllables, but with a good many versi tronchi. Rime-
scheme : ABCABCDDEEFF ; AABBCC. The poem was
printed by Allacci, but is not in Valeriani's edition.
Stanza i, 1. 2. campo: 'fly from'. The word seems
curiously to have become, and for that matter to remain,
equivalent to its contrary scampare, which means 'to leave
the field ', ' decamp '.
I. 3. attacca : from tacca, ' the heel of a shoe ' (something
tacked on). From this branched off the two meanings of
'attach' and 'attack' (Fr. s'attacher, 'to attach oneself to,'
' stick closely to ' ; attacquer, ' to attack ').
II. 4-6. ' I like it as much as digging in the fields, or trusting
to a tally.' — zappar : Diez suggests from Greek o-Kcmreiv, the
change of one to z occurring elsewhere. — tacca is at this day,
and doubtless had then become, equivalent to taglia, ' a notch ' ;
such as those by which accounts were kept.
1. 7. bon sapemi : ' tastes well to me '.
1. 1 1. maidi : apparently = oggi mat, ' to-day and for ever '.
1. 12. ' Let him who will, say ''You say ill." '
Stanza 2, 1. 3. alma : ' a soul '.
1. 4. soma : probably for somma, as in Stanza 2, 1. 4 of the
preceding poem, ' the sum,' but it may be merely ' a load '.
I. 6. alma : ' kind '.
II. 9, 10. The shade of difference in the meaning of manco is
very faint ; all that can be said is that the first is part, (for
mancato), the second adj.
1. 12. dobbio: for debbo; the o doubtless justified in the
poet's mind by dmiere.
Stanza 3, 1. 3. prd: for firode, 'prowess'. 'To love is as
good as prowess to him.'
1. 5. scola : a small boat, undoubtedly, as suggested to me
some years ago by Mr. F. C. Hodgson, from the Lat. scaphula.
The word seems to have become, at an early date, confused
with spuola, the weaver's 'spool' or 'shuttle'. It occurs as a
variant to this in some MSS. oiPurg. xxxi. 96, where Benvenuto,
who adopts it, interprets it by a genus navigii.
NOTES 223
1. 6. pro: here an adj., Yx.preux.
1. 8. bisongni : apparently in the sense of bisogne, ' business,'
the meaning being ' love gives a spur to heart and action '.
1. 10. for zb : fuor cid, ' apart from this '.
I. 11. briga: 'struggle', from a Gothic root meaning 'to
break '. Purg. xvi. 1 17 is a good instance of its use.
I.12. varagia : for varrd. The general meaning is ' without
love, a man who has to struggle or labour will not be able to
make the best of such powers as he has '.
Stanza 4, 1. 4. gioia : 'jewel '.
II. 3-5. Vat. MS. chetale sua pare nolaudo quanto glotra-
valglio. All. che tal parte non laudo ver che varia travaio.
The few slight modifications which I have made seem to give
the required sense.
11. 6-8. quanto should perhaps be quando ; ' when I am in
trouble for her (i. e. am toiling to win her) all my pleasure would
depart if I could hold her at my ease '.
1. 10. non varannolo: ' will not avail him'.
1. II. terral : terra lo. We should have expected le, sc.
gioie, but strict syntax need not be too severely demanded in
a poem of this kind.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. mesto : 'mingled'.
1. 3. a me : Vat. MS. enme ; if we read ante it must be taken
as the subj. ' may I love ', but perhaps it would be better to read
e p. s. a me.
1. 4. mesto : ' sad '.
1. 5. si : perhaps better se. ' If I get a good word from every
one who is in trouble, I am well repaid.'
1. 10. MS. chepona. ' Expectation is better than possession ;
he who obtains the latter has nothing compared with him who
hoped.'
1. 12. ' It is like going from high summer to winter.'
Stanza 6, 1. 5. onne : ogni.
Stanza 7, 1. 1. adessa for adesso may be explained by
supposing the existence of ad ipsam horam.
1. 3. ' Whose vassal I am.'
1. 6. s' omo : apparently su' omo.
224 NOTES
XLIV.
This again is obviously an early poem. It is addressed to
Mazzeo di Rico, who was probably Guittone's senior, and is
quite in the early conventional style. The stanzas are of sixteen
lines, every fourth line being of eleven syllables, the rest of
seven. Rime-scheme: ABAaCDBDCEEFfCAAHhC (this is
the scheme of the first stanza, but it does not appear to be very
strictly adhered to. This, however, may be due to errors in
the MS.).
Stanza i. 11. 2, 3 are lacking in the Vat. MS. I have supplied
them from Valeriani, who presumably took them from the
Laurentian MS.
1. 7. c' : that is, ' love '.
1. 8. a : it might be better to read d.
1. 9. invegio : apparently the Prov. envezar, * to cheer up,'
and the participle envezatj ' merry '.
I. 12. fosse fallire : 'were at fault'. Bembo distinguishes
fallire and. failure as implying, the first 'a fault', the second
' a failure ' or ' mistake ', and such would seem to be the
difference here.
11. 13, 14. ' He is in error for whom it does not make a thing
more pleasing that it is in agreement with the truth.' Con-
structions like chi non git fa for a chi non fa are not un-
common.
II. 15, 16. ' Let good giving give oblivion to ill, since service
avails,' i. e. ' the service is the real thing, and one may forget
the ills for the sake of the good that is given '. The gender of
ubria is no doubt due to the Prov. oblida.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. ubria consento : • I agree to forget '.
1. 4. ' Good, even under a false visage, is acceptable.'
1. 5. laudata, referring to both lo ben and opera, takes the
gender of the nearest subst.
1. 9. for : fuori, l without '.
1. 13. A sentiment which, though it does not occur in so
many words in the famous discussion of nobility (Conv. iv. 9),
Dante would have thoroughly approved.
1. 15. chente : ' whoever ', literally ' who in being ', cf. neiente.
NOTES 225
Stanza 3, 1. 7. Note the omission of the relative before sn.
I. 9. avaccio : * in haste '. Dante uses the word several
times ; a good instance will be found in Par. xvi. 70 ; and it
occurs in Boccaccio. The origin is doubtful ; a discussion of it
will be found in the glossary to my edition of the Purgatory,
avacciare appears to have become assimilated in meaning to
avanzare.
II. 11, 12. Again a thoroughly Dantesque sentiment.
1. 16. prender sagio : ' take a test '.
Stanza 4, 1. I. appro vo lo saggio : ' had found the test
good'.
1. 3. ' That it was of refined homage.' fino has here the usual,
almost untranslateable, sense that it bears in the language of
courtly love.
1. 13. damagio : a less usual form of dannaggio.
Stanza 5, 1. 8. cheri : ' demands '.
1. 12. Apparently an allusion to Prezivalle Doria's poem
Amor m' d priso (A.R.V. lxxxvi). It would perhaps be the
best to delete the full stop at the end of this line, and in 1. 13
regard morto as standing for morte.
1. 15. 'ncrescienza : 'annoyance'.
Stanza 6, 1. 1. ene = merely e, as in the next line mene is
simply me, the enclitic ne having very little force in the first
instance, and none in the second.
I. 11. ' Salute him for me, look him up for me.'
II. 12, 13. ' Tell him that it happens according to reason that
guerdon is bound to ruin him who asks for it.'
1. 14. fogli fede : ' I assure him.'
1. 15. dispresgia appears here to mean 'makes light of.
XLV.
In this piece we have Fra Guittone in a more serious mood.
It is a lament over the rout of the Florentine Guelfs by their
own Ghibeline exiles allied with the Sienese in the battle of
Montaperti, Sept. 4, 1260, when, as Dante says, the Arbia
was dyed red. A certain amount of admonition is mingled
226 NOTES
with the regret, but there is none of the exultation which one
would have expected from a citizen of so staunch a Ghibeline
city as Arezzo. The stanzas are of fifteen lines, except the
comiato, and the lines are all of eleven syllables, save the
second and fourth from the end in each stanza. It will be
noted that with the exception of the comtato each stanza
begins with the last word of the preceding. Rime-scheme :
ABBACDDCEFGGFFE.
Stanza i, 1. 3. meraviglio: exactly the equivalent to our
'I wonder'. Note that the last two syllables must be scanned
as one, as usually with words ending in -glio.
1. 4. nol agia : MS. nollagia. I suspect that we ought to
read no rt agia, che morto non seems to be equivalent to non
che morto, ' not to say that a dead man would hold it ' (or ' would
have from it ') ' grief and tears '.
1. 5. granata : the grains or berries in the Florentine ' lily',
which is really an iris showing its open seed capsules, are a
familiar feature.
1. 6. uso romano : the directly Roman origin of Florence
was a firm article of belief in the thirteenth century ; Villani
(iii. 1) makes a deputation sent from Florence to Charlemagne
and the Romans with a request for the refounding of the city
speak of it as loro figliuola ; and Dante has a notable reference
to the same tradition in his epistle to the Emperor Henry : ' in
Romam comua exacuit, quae ad imaginem suam atque simili-
tudinem fecit illam '.
Stanza 2, 1. 2. Cf. 'Nought shall make us rue, if England
to itself do rest but true '.
1. 3. It might perhaps be better to read V mondo, * so that it
kept the world loyal to the Emperor, comparing Dante's soleva
Roma, che 7 buon mondo feo {Purg. xvi. 106). Mon. reads
modo.
1. 10. a suo pro : ' to its own profit '. So a fa lor pro
{Inf. ii. no). One may compare these lines with Dante's
apostrophe to Florence at the end of Purg. vi, only that the
terms of praise are there used in bitter irony.
1. 12. amoroso: in passive sense. Cf. No. XLVII, St. iv,
I. 18.
NOTES 227
Stanza 3, 1. 5. Quegli : the banished Ghibeline nobles.
1.6. schiatta : 'stock'. Cf. /' oltracotata schiatta, Par.
xvi. 115. Germ, geschlecht.
1. 8. collogati im bono : ' placed in good position '.
I. 13. The lion of Florence, having once punished the Ghibe-
lines, gave them a chance of striking again, since to its own
hurt it controlled itself, forte seems to have here the same
meaning as in Purg. vi. 18.
Stanza 4, 1. 4. latino : ' Italian ' ; one is reminded of the
form of Omberto's words, Purg. xi. 65, 66.
II. 6, 7. Montalcino and Montepulciano are towns in Sienese
territory, and it was an attempt of the Florentines to put a
garrison in the former which led to the battle of Montaperti.
1. 7. It might be better, as I have suggested in the note, to
read miso a sua rinforza.
I. 8. Cervia : in Romagna, a little south of Ravenna {Purg.
xv. 44). With the Maremma, it may be taken as denoting the
limits of Tuscany and Romagna.
II. 9, 10. Places in Florentine territory. Colle di Valdelsa, it
will be remembered, was the site of the battle where the Floren-
tines on June n, 1269, had their revenge on the Sienese {Purg.
xiii. 115). The subject to tene is Siena, carried on from line 5.
1. 1 1. campana : Villani mentions how the Florentines carried
their great bell known as the Martinella into the battle with
them.
1. 15. quella schiatta appears here to mean the common
people who, against the advice of the nobles, forced on the
expedition which ended at Montaperti (Vill. vi. yj). It is
curious that on this occasion it was one of Dante's oltracotata
schiatta, Tegghaio Aldobrandi of the Adimari, who was spokes-
man on the side of caution.
Stanza 5, 1. 4. danno can hardly stand, as there seems to
be no shade of difference in meaning here from that in 1. 1.
1. 5. I have inserted una to preserve the metre.
1. 8. par v' adagia : ' seems to set you at ease ', probably
ironical.
1. 9. gli Alamanni : after the battle of Montaperti, Florence
was occupied by the detachment of Manfred's German troops
Q2
228 NOTES
who, under their commander Count Giordano Lancia, had
assisted the Ghibelines and Sienese.
Stanza 6, 1. 2. Conti usually denotes the ' Conti Guidi ',
one of whom, Count Guidoguerra, was a military leader of the
Florentine Guelfs, the Uberti being the leaders of the banished
Ghibelines. The meaning must be ' that you show all kinds of
honour to the chiefs of both parties, who have been equally
guilty of bringing you into this disgrace ' ; though it must be
said that Guidoguerra joined with Tegghaio in advising against
rash measures.
1. 4 sqq. Obviously ironical.
1. 7. Conte Rosso : the Giacopi, called Rossi, were one of
the Guelf families of Florence, but I cannot trace the precise
point of the allusion.
1. 9. Ripafratte : a Florentine castle on the frontier towards
Pisa. Florence being now Ghibeline, Pisa would of course have
nothing to fear from it.
1. 10. lago : Lake Trasimenus.
1. 15. MS. potete fare fare, the second fare being doubtless
a scribe's error owing to the turning over of a page, though
A.R.V. retains it. The line seems to mean merely 'you can
make Tuscany a separate kingdom '.
XLVL
This poem shows Fra Guittone at his best. The language is
simple, the verse is musical, and the various characters are so
described as to express in few words a high ideal. It is modelled
on a well-known Provencal type, in which the writer enumerates
various objects which give him pleasure. Good examples are
Bertran del Bom, Part 1, xxiv, and Part 3, ii (Thomas), the
former of which Guittone may have had in mind in the
present ode. The stanzas are of eighteen lines ; lines 6, 7
are of eight syllables, and trochaic in cadence; 9, 11, 14, 16,
17 being of seven syllables; with a comiato of fourteen, in
which lines 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 13 are short. Rime-scheme:
ABBACDDEEFFGHHCIIC.
NOTES 229
Stanza i, 1. 4. di ben : MS. divene ; one might suggest di
ver grado, but ben gives a good enough sense. Note the
constant recurrence in these lines of grado and kindred words ;
a trick very familiar in the early poetry, and not unknown to
Dante himself.
1. 7. Vat. MS. gia giacere, probably a scribe's error. The
meaning is of course ' to see person and property as safe in the
woods as in a castle '.
1. 11. a misagio refers to the malefactors mentioned in the
next line, ' to know that they are uncomfortable '.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. Vat. MS. Bello me savere dire chi vizi schusa.
A.R.V. Bello m' i saver dir chi vizi scusa, where the editors, in
omitting the e of dire, have clearly missed the point.
1. 3. reggion looks as if it should be regno, which would
involve reading meno.
1. 4. cher : chiede.
1. 8. sae = save, ' tastes '.
1. 18. sa here = 'knows '.
Stanza 3, 1. 6. MS. campione chenontortto difende, of course
an impossible line. If non be omitted, as I think it must be,
difende will mean ' wards off', not ' defends '.
1. 8. ad un sol motto : ' without bargaining '.
Stanza 4, 1. 5. che bella s' obria : • who forgets that she is
pretty '.
1. 14. briga seems here to have a milder sense, ' hard work '.
Indeed we might take briga e famiglia as a ' hendiadys ' — ' hard
household work \
I.18. lungiando: cf. the Prov. lunhar, to 'remove,' Fr.
Eloigner. — a se : the use of the dative is an obvious
Latinism.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. Sami : ' is to my taste '.
1. 3. al cui spechio : ' after whose likeness '.
1. 5. Parlato : ' a Prelate '.
1. 6. edificio seems to be metaphorical, like our ' edify '.
I. 9. Rilescioso : religioso.
II. 10, 11 are lacking in the MS. The meaning required is
something like ' who after he has taken up the religious life . . .'
1. 14. chercato : clericato.
230 NOTES
XLVII.
This poem would seem to have been written about the time
of the author's ' conversion ', being an expression of contrition
for his past life, mingled with general moral reflections. There
is an austere dignity about it which one would have expected
to appeal to Dante, and one fails to trace in it (unless possibly
in such forms as Parlato, rilescioso) the ' plebeian ' style which
was the chief cause of Dante's depreciation of Guittone. The
stanzas are of eighteen lines, except the last two stanzas, in
which the rimes are similar to the last twelve of the other
stanzas, lines 1 1, 13, 15, 17 of these latter being of seven syllables.
Rime-scheme: ABCABCDEEFFGGHHIID.
Stanza i, 1. 18. di corpo alma: 'from body, soul'.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. talenta : ' has a leaning towards '.
1. 6. gia : MS. giu. non gid=f no longer '.
1.8. MS. sonnet 'te avizi corftpo arma ecore, sormette, ' places
above,' is clearly contrary to the sense of the passage, and the
articles must be inserted to save the metre.
1. 9. onde seems to be equivalent to del qual, ' than which '.
MS. ode.
H.13,14. 'Where is the champion who conquers where
every lord is beaten ? '
Stanza 3, 1. 2. vile seems to weaken the antithesis, and it
might be better to read di tutto, a very slight change in the
ductus Htterarum.
1. 7. fisolafi : filosofi.
I. 8. poi, though representing Lat. post, is rarely found as a
preposition, its place having been taken by dopo.
II. 9-1 1. Cf. Purg. vii. 34-6. The Dantesque character of
all this passage will strike every reader. —In 11. 10, 11, vita . . .
vita can hardly stand. I would suggest in 1. 1 1 ed aita.
I.12. abellire: 'delight', a Provencal word as in Purg.
xxvi. 140.
1. 13. lui: 'Christ'.
1. 15. ' For the man does not fear his lord.'
Stanza 4, 1. 3. orato : onorato.
1. 6. rede may mean ' inherits ', for reda, but e rede would
seem better.
NOTES 231
L 13. aconciar : ' to trim ', ' fit up '. Cf. Par. xxxi. 98. The
line as it stands is a syllable short ; read a lo ben.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. gaudere : is there an allusion to the name
of Frati Gaudenti ?
1. 9. racattd : ' redeemed ', Fr. racheta.
1. 13. mort' e: A.R.V. morte, but the alteration in the text
seems necessary for the sake of both rime and reason.
1. 14. la: r alma.
Stanza 7, 1. 1. Cavalcante can be no other than he whom
Dante saw among the ' sect of Epicurus ', Inf. x. Which, out
of the many Lapi of Florence, is here referred to can hardly be
ascertained ; it can scarcely be the poet Lapo Giani, who would
have been too young at this time.
XLVIII.
The following ode exists only in the Laurentian (Redi's) MS.,
whence it has been printed by Val. and Mon. It is a lament
for a contemporary poet, Giacomo da Leona, of whom little
or nothing else seems to be known. The stanzas are of sixteen
lines, 10, 12, 14 being of seven syllables, the rest of eleven, and
a comiato of ten lines as the last ten of the other stanzas.
Rime-scheme : ABCABCDEFFGGHHED.
Stanza i, 1. 8. amarore ed amaro: MS. amaroso, but no
such word seems to exist, and if it did it would be only a
synonym for amaro. With a?narore ed amaro cf. piacientier
piacere, No. XLII, St. 2, 11. 2, 3, and valente valor in 1. 13.
I. 11. condutti: 'guidance', as in Purg. iv. 29, Conv. i. 11.
II. 12-15. The metaphor in these lines suggests several pas-
sages in Dante, bon (boni) ghiotti seems to mean ' greedy '
in a good way.
1. 1 5. mondan : the regular term for those who led a worldly
life. Thus Villani, viii. 10, in recording the death of Brunetto
Latini, says fu mondano uomo, a phrase which, in the light of
Inf. xv, has a somewhat sinister significance.
Stanza 2, 1. 2. piana : ' plain ', ' easy '. This line shows
that the frequent obscurities which we meet with in these poems
were not in any way due to the writers' lack of power to express
232 NOTES
themselves, but were deliberately chosen as a recognized form
of poetic composition ; indeed, the whole of this passage throws
a light on the poetical methods of the time. Giacomo, it would
appear, preferred French and Provencal to his native Aretine,
though he could compose well enough in the latter.
1. 8. sentitor bono seems to mean ' with a good feeling for
style '.
I. 9. dittator refers, no doubt, to choice of words. Cf. Purg.
xxiv. 59.
II. 13, 14. The rime-scheme shows that two lines are lacking
here, and another at 1. 16. Valeriani has placed 1. 15 where
1. 13 should be, and marked a blank for the last three lines.
Mon. takes no notice of the lacunae.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. nazione : ' birth ' or ' birthplace ', the regular
sense of the word in early Italian, e.g. Inf. i. 105. It never,
I think, had the sense which it has since acquired, of ' nation '.
1. 3. Val. di vil . . . di car, Mon. e vil . . . de car. With
these readings priso must be taken as ' I prize ' ; I understand
it as the participle ; the substitution of men for the second piii
seems necessary for the sense. Instances of a similar con-
fusion will be found in Purg. ix. 17 ; xxvii. [II.
1. 6. poco 1' aviso : ' I think little of it '. Here again cf.
Dante's theory of nobility in Conv. iv.
1. 7. destrier : ' a war horse '. Lat. dextriarius, ' because
brought to the rider's right side to mount,' says Diez (how, then,
were other horses mounted ?). — Cf. Horace's est in equispairum
virtus.
1. 8. lausor : ' praise '. Prov. lauzor.
1. 9. ronzin : ' a hack '. Eng. rouncey, Sp. rocin, Fr. rous-
sin, from late Lat. runcinus, of which the origin appears to be
uncertain. A derivation from Ger. ross is suggested in Ducange,
but this word seems to have given rise to another set of deriva-
tives (Diez s.v. rosso). This would hardly account for the Lat.
form, which is at least as old as Domesday Book.
1. 13. orrar: onorar.
1. 15. or se fa, &c. : 'from tin makes himself gold '.
Stanza 4, 1. 3. It is difficult to see the construction of this
line ; it would perhaps be better to read se.— appo : Lat. apud.
NOTES 233
I. 4. ' Esteem of which alone is noble ' (the words di cui have
by some error, for which I cannot account, dropped out of the
beginning of the line).
II. 9, 10. Cf. Horace again, Ep. i. I. 106, 7 'sapiens uno
minor est love, dives, Liber, honoratus, pulcher, rex denique
regum '.
1. 10. bealta : direct from the French beautd.
XLIX.
Of Chiaro Davanzati only three definite facts appear to be
known : that he was a Florentine, that he fought in the battle
of Montaperti, and that he was dead by 1280. He has left
a considerable body of verse, but Dante nowhere mentions him.
Like Fra Guittone, he seems to belong to the school inter-
mediate between the earliest poets, who drew most of their
inspiration from the Provencal, and the stil nuovo of Dante
and his contemporaries. His metrical forms and vocabulary
are not unlike Fra Guittone's, but his touch is somewhat lighter.
The present poem is probably an early one. It consists of the
very usual number of five stanzas, with the comiato of the
same length as the rest. The stanzas are of eleven lines, 3, 6,
7, 9, 11 being of eleven syllables, the rest of seven. Rime-
scheme: ABCABCDDEEC.
Stanza i, 1. 1. Chiaro uses the same opening line in
another ode, Vat. MS. clxxviii.
1. 7. possasi : subjunctive because of the preceding negative.
Of the omission of che we have had more than one example.
1. 11. calare : literally 'to strike sail', from Greek xa^v
through late Lat. chalare ; see Inf. xxvii. 81.
Stanza 2, 1. 2. non m' alena : ' does not give me breath '.
1. 3. Vat. MS. omits pub ; I have followed A.R.V. con-
jecturally, and doubtless rightly. Even so the line is a syllable
short, unless we are to treat mia quite exceptionally as a disyl-
labic Perhaps for pub it would be better to read pote.
1. 5. vivendo : note the use of the gerund in place of the
infinitive ; almost, though not quite, equivalent to our English
234 NOTES
use of the present participle. In this instance we may render
either by ' living ' or by ' to live '.
1. 8. e : A.R.V. e.
1. 9 lacks four syllables ; Casini suggests CK e loco pien cP o ;
we want something like e lo dover d' o. b. om m. — membrato :
• prudent ' ; a Prov. word.
Stanza 4, 1. 6. a le contrade : contrada means simply
' region ' or ' district ', whether in town or country ; but the
meaning of the word here is not easy to make out. It looks
almost as if it referred specially to a country district, but I can
find no trace of this special meaning elsewhere. The poet is
absent from his lady, who presumably lives in the town. The
word is used again by him in No. LI, St. I, but there in its
ordinary signification.
Stanza 5, 1. 3. MS. ticonvene. A.R.V. riconvene, which
leaves the line a syllable short and devoid of sense.
1. 4. A.R.V. d? cK altro. It seems better to emend the MS.
by omitting altro.
1. 5. A syllable seems to be missing at the beginning of the
line, but the variation of the rhythm may be intentional.
L.
This short and simple poem, the style of which suggests that
it was probably an early one, shows occasional resemblances to
No. IV, and, again, to ' Acme and Septimius ', the former of
which probably, the latter possibly, Chiaro would have read.
The stanzas are of twelve lines, all long. Rime-scheme :
ABCBCADEFEFD.
Stanza i, 1. 6. nostro should almost certainly be vostro,
bene being a regular term for the object of love. The change
from the second sing, to the second plur. need of course give
no trouble : we have had several instances of it.
1. II. talglia : 'shape'.
Stanza 2, 1. 6. lomera : lumiera.
1. 8. The form sia for sit in second sing. pres. subj., if less
usual than sit, is quite recognized. See Diez, ii, p. 135.
1. 10. piangiendo lo comiato : ' weeping my farewell '.
NOTES 235
I. 12. presente : 'immediate'.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. gravosa can only refer to the lady ; it seems
here to mean ' causing grief, or perhaps better, 'vexed '.
II. 4-6. ' Inasmuch as I know that she is vexed with me,
so may it (sc. " my absence ") be changed to sight that I might
be secure from all anger.'
1. 5. in un vedere : MS. avno redire ; A.R.V. a uno
vedire; the change from a to in is required for the sake of
the metre.
1. 7. pertanto : ' meanwhile '.
1. 8. insembra : insieme.
1. 10. Note membra impersonal.
LI.
This poem seems to have been written during the absence,
real or imaginary, referred to in the last. The stanzas are again
of twelve long lines. Rime-scheme : ABCABCDEFDEF.
Stanza 1, 1. 6. agio must be read aio and scanned as one
syllable.
1. 7. dimeno seems here to differ little in meaning from
meno, ' I lead,' or ' handle with movement ' ; the origin of the
word is obscure, for the derivation given by Diez from Lat.
minari, l to threaten,' is difficult to accept. Fr. viener un cheval
is almost exactly ' to handle a horse ', and one is more inclined
to suspect some connexion with manus. At any rate ' handle '
will very nearly give the meaning here.
1. 11. son must stand for so 'n.— contrate: see note to
No. XLIX, St. 4, 1. 6.
Stanza 2, 11. 1-3. Note the Dantesque character of these
lines ; when the mind and the intellect are invoked to take
a part in the affairs of love we begin to see the dawn of the
so-called philosophical school of love-poetry.
1. 6. riviera : as the next stanza shows, the bank of the
Arno, in Pisan territory.
1. 8. ver : for verso, prep. : cf. Purg. iii. 51.
1. 10. concieduta : sc. gioia. — The lover apparently regrets
that he has won his mistress's favour so easily ; she has been
236 NOTES
humbled and not overbearing. The reader will remember
several cases in which he has rejoiced in the pains he has
suffered.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. Here again we must no doubt read so '«.
1. 6. sia : subjunctive, because of the notion of uncertainty
involved ; ' whenever that hour may be '.
1. 11. cieciero : 'the wild swan ': not connected with Latin
cygnus ; rather from cecinus, a late Latin word for ' a swan ',
which is said to be from cicer, a 'vetch', from the bean-like
knob on the bill of the bird. We may compare the name
Cicero.
Stanza 4, 1. 2. The syntax of this line appears confused.
The best way to remedy it seems to be to put a comma after
diletto ; sovrana will then come naturally back into its agree-
ment with rivera.
1. 3. Here again we have two distinct clauses, and it might
be better to put a comma after gioie. — orata : onorata.
1. 7. prolungato : it is difficult to say whether the word
means here merely ' kept at a distance ', or ' prolonged ' (sc. ' in
absence ') ; the former is perhaps preferable.
1. 1 1 . solevi : ' took off', ' lightened \
LII.
This lamentation over the degeneracy of Florence will recall
to every reader Dante's treatment of the same subject in
Purg. vi and Par. xv ; only that Dante's tone is more scorn-
ful and less pitiful than that of his predecessor. The poem must
have been written during the struggle of Guelfs and Ghibelines
for ascendancy ; for the poet was dead before the feud between
Blacks and Whites had become acute. It may be compared with
Fra Guittone's ode, No. XLV. But these two poems, though
some resemblance may be traced between this and Guittone's
'Ai, dolze terra Aretina', Val. ix, seem to be independent
of each other. It has five stanzas, like most of the canzoni
written about this period; each of fourteen lines, 3,7, 11, 13
being of seven syllables. In Stanza 2 the short line is trans-
ferred from 11 to 9, and in Stanza 1 I have assumed the same
NOTES 237
to be the case. Rime-scheme : ABBABAABBCCDDE. The
last lines of the stanzas appear to have no corresponding rime,
and the same is the case with 1. 9 in Stanzas 3, 4, 5 ; in Stanzas
2, 3, and 5, however, we find the respective last lines riming
together, which looks as if either the poet had not given a final
revision to his work, or that something has gone wrong with the
text, which is preserved only in the Vat. MS.
Stanza 1, 1. 8. Fiorin : for the foundation of Florence and
the acts of the eponymous hero Fiorinus, see G. Villani, i.
35-8. That version, however, represents Caesar as naming the
city after Fiorinus in memory of his death in battle with the
Fiesolans. — spese : ' dispensed '.
1. II. rasgioni : 'sorts'.
1. 12. ciesati : cessati = 'aloof. Cf. in cesso, Inf. xxii. 100.
Stanza 2, 1. 2. sei baroni : as Casini points out, Villani
mentions only four baroni at the first foundation of the city,
corresponding to the four quarters into which it was then
divided. The division into sesti did not take place till after the
eleventh century, so that Chiaro was probably misled by the
circumstances of his own time.
1. 5. fignra : probably the image of S. John the Baptist
stamped on the florins.
1. 6. dal, and in 1. 7 da' : ' suited to '.
1. 8. planeta di Leo : Mars ; cf. Par. xvi. 37.
1. 9. ' Uncontaminated from without by rustics,' di being
understood as repeated before fuor. The admission of the
country families into the city was regarded as one of the causes
of the decay of Florence. Cf. il villan (PAguglion, Par. xvi.
56 and 11. 67-9.
1. 11. According to the rule of the next three stanzas, and
possibly the first, this line is too long ; probably ed in gioia is
an interpolation.
Stanza 3, 1. 5. ' Brought down into fealty,' as of a servant.
1. 13. parte : ' party ', in the political sense.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. nom posso is the reading of the MS. I have
followed A.R.V. in omitting nom, which seems to spoil both
sense and metre.
1. 3. s' adomilia : ' is humbled '.
238 NOTES
1. 6. ' Dishonoured and shamed.' aii . . . scans as two syllables.
I. 8. schiavonia : ' slavery '. The form of the word shows
that the origin of schiavo, from the people of that race, was not
yet forgotten.
II. 9, io. Casini understands the filgli to be the Ghibelines
and the Guelfs, and the due volte to refer to the submission of
the city, first to Frederick and then to Manfred, ' the other ' being
the surrender to Charles of Anjou. Should we not read in 1. 9
da duo tuo' filgli, putting a comma at the end of the line, and
taking altro . . . altro to mean ' one ' and ' the other ' ? This
would make 11. 10 and 11 sqq. fit the facts more appropriately.
Stanza 5, 1. 4. losura must mean ' flattery ' or ' deceit '.
The catalogue of offences may be well paralleled from Dante.
1. 1 1 . contrado : contrario.
1. 14. veracevia: cf. Inf. i. 12.
LIII.
The following poem appears to be based upon a short piece
by Sordello, ' Bel cavaler me plai que per amor ' ; though a good
deal expanded (Gasp. S. P. S., p. 40). Verbal coincidences,
which will be noted in their due place, seem to preclude any
idea of its being an independent composition on a stock theme.
It would probably be an early composition ; it consists of four
stanzas of fifteen lines, with a comiato of seven, all hendeca-
syllabic. Rime-scheme: ABBCABBCDDEEFFD ; comiato:
AABBCCA.
Stanza 1, 1. 1. Non gia per gioia c' agia : Chiaro has used
the same words for the opening of another poem, V.R.V., ccxlii.
— Non gia : ' no longer '.
11. 7, 8. ' When she who forgets it sees in an example the
grief of the good lover.' — tenne might perhaps be better.
11. 9, 10. Sordello : ' Pois cascuna so que no ere creiria '.
1. 11 must be taken as explanatory of miscredente, 'they have
wrongly believed'. Their view seems to have been that of
Rosalind, As You Like It, Act IV, Scene i, ' Men have died
and the worms have eaten them, but not for love '.
NOTES 239
1. 12. cosi is not uncommonly used to introduce the expression
of a wish.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. mesdire : a French word.
I. 3. noil' : non lo.
1. 10. Sordello : ' van tarzan so '.
1. II. dottanza : 'hesitation'. Lat. dtibitantia.
1. 15. a lor : 'to the lovers '.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. di paragio : ' equally'.
Stanza 4, 1. 4. altoregia : ' raises on high ', or possibly for
alterezza (vb. ' makes great ' or ' proud ').
1. 10. nanti : inanzi.
1. 12. Sordello : 'A mon dan get lei e son repentir '. It will
be seen that the Italian poet has given a different turn to the
sentiment. — gitto : ' cast away '.
LIV.
Bonagiunta degli Orbiciani of Lucca is well known to all
readers of Dante. He is introduced in Purg. xxiv, and into
his mouth are placed both the obscure prophecy as to ' non so
che Gentucca' and the famous criticism of the old and new
styles of poetry. Of the old style, he was one of the latest
exponents, and from a sonnet-correspondence between himself
and Guido Guinizelli (of which his is V.R.V., dcclxxxvi,
while Guido's is preserved in the Chig. MS.) he would seem
to have been a little ruffled by the pretensions of the new school.
This may be the point of the ' issa veggio' of Purg. xxiv. 55.
Benvenuto of Imola, who had known him personally, says that
he was ' an easy finder of rimes, but an easier of wines ', some-
thing of a ton vivant, we may guess, which would account for
the position he occupies in Purgatory. Dante refers to him
again, V. E. I. 13, with Guittone and Gallo Pisano, among
writers who never got beyond their local mode of speech. The
present poem is quite in the Provencal style, and may be com-
pared with No. XXXIX. There are five stanzas of ten lines,
each of eight syllables, and therefore in a trochaic measure.
Rime-scheme : ABABBCDBCD (in Stanza I, C is identical
with A).
240 NOTES
Stanza i, 1. 4. latino : see note to No. XXVI, St. i, 1. 3.
1. 8. rifino : see note to No. XVII, St. 4, 1. 4.
Stanza 2, 1. 4. col chiaro viso : French term, as has been
before noted.
1. 9. s' infingie : ' feigns '.
STANZA 3, 11. I, 2. Vat. MS. conquise\fiarlando\ but con-
quiso is needed for the rime, and the a which I have inserted
corrects both the grammar and the metre of 1. 2.
1. 4. menando : cf. note to No. LI, St. 1, 1. 7.
LV.
This poem, which is in structure not a canzone but a ballata,
is preserved in the Palatine MS. only, whence it has been edited
by Valeriani and Monaci. The ballata, as its name implies,
was intended to accompany dancing ; and accordingly it opens
with a short stanza serving as a prelude to the measure. Dante
intended to give an analysis of its structure in the fourth book of
the De Vulgari Eloquentia, which unfortunately was never
written. In this case the stanza proper is of eight lines, the
normal rhythm being as follows : —
ww — ww — ww — ww — w four times
\J — yj — v — w
w — w — w | w — W — W
— w w — w
w w — w w — w w — W
with occasional variations, which do not, however, affect the
beat. The introductory short stanza is as follows : —
— WW — WW — w
W — WW — w — w
w — ww — w
— w w — w
w — ww — ww — w
Rime-scheme : prelude : AABBC ; stanzas : ABABBCCD ;
every stanza, including the prelude, ends with the same rime.
Prelude, 1 3. In the present case it is the lady who is plead-
ing, contrary to the usual rule. The gender of trista in Stanza 3,
NOTES 241
where it occurs in rime, makes this clear, though the words dolce
meo sire would not be sufficient by themselves to prove it ;
since there are instances in which the language of feudal homage
is carried to such a point that the lover addresses the lady as
his ' lord '.
1. 4. ismarrire : ' confuse ', ' bewilder '. Inf. i. 3.
Stanza i, 1. 4. ne : the negative is difficult to explain ; it
may be equivalent to non che, ' not to say '. Val. gets over
the difficulty by boldly-reading 0 lafr., 0 V gh.
1. 5. We ought probably to read presa al laccio.
I. 6. stranianza : ' estrangement '. — prumera : a not un-
common form iox primer a.
II. 7, 8. Another reference to the fable of the leopard.
Stanza 2, 1. 7. 'ncrescenza : possibly 'vexation ', but more
probably only ' increase '.
Stanza 3, 1. 6. mi rinfrangesse : we might say ' were to
break up in my hands '. The word is doubtless an echo of the
frangente in the last stanza.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. It is hard to say what distinction the poet
would draw between the exact meanings of viso and ciera ;
possibly the first is the actual face, the latter the expression,
the ' cheer '.
1. 6. ci : usually with plural meaning, but here singular.
LVI.
The chief thing to note in this poem is the extreme smoothness
of its flow ; otherwise it is little more than an exercise on the
Provencal model. It is probably an early composition of the
writer's. The stanzas are of fourteen lines, 2, 5, 9, 13 being of
seven syllables, the rest long. Rime-scheme : A (' a ' in Stanzas
2 and 3) BbC ABbC DEEdFDEEF. The internal rimes vary
a little between D and E.
Stanza 2, 11. 5, 6. Vat. MS. che diferenza amore . no\ne
prenditore . di, &c. The slight rearrangement which I have
adopted, together with the substitution of senz ' essi for diferenza
(the actual letters, it will be seen, are almost exactly the same),
seems to restore sense, metre, and rime. ' Love without these
things cannot get its true fulfilment.'
BUTLER R
242 NOTES
LVII.
This piece consists of three stanzas of fifteen lines each, 10,
12, 14 being hendecasyllables, while the last is alexandrine,
a very rare feature in these poems ; the remainder are of
the usual shorter form of seven syllables. Rime-scheme :
ABBC ABBC CDDEEFF.
Stanza 2, 11. 3, 4. See Purg. xxvi. 144, an instance of the way
in which Dante took the troubadour commonplaces and digni-
fied them.
1. 14. varia : cond. of valere.
LVII I.
The only authority for assigning this poem to Bonagiunta is
the Giunta edition of 1527, in which it first appeared in print.
No MS. of it seems at present to be known. It was afterwards
reprinted by Valeriani ; the spelling has probably been a good
deal modified to suit the polite readers of the sixteenth century.
It is difficult to form any judgement as to its authenticity from
internal evidence, both the vocabulary and the manner of the
earlier writers, with whom Bonagiunta must, as regards style, be
classed, having so many features in common, but it may as well
be his as another's. Both the five stanzas and the short comiato
would indicate that it was written at least after 1260, when these
two features seem to have become usual. The stanzas are of
twelve lines, 2, 5, 8, 9, 10 being of seven syllables. Rime-
scheme : ABCABCDDEEFF — an arrangement which is some-
what characteristic of Bonagiunta.
Stanza 1, 1. 12. grana: • cochineal ', from the grain-like ap-
pearance of the insects from which the dye is made.
Stanza 2, 1. 4. se non com' : • any more than does '. So
the lover in the contemporary English ballad, ' Bytune Mersshe
and A veril,' speaks of himself as • wery so water in wore ', i.e.
' weary as water in a weir '.
I. 6. ammorza : ' kills '.
II. 7-9. Cf. the opening lines of the sonnet Tanto gentile^
V. N. xv.
NOTES 243
1. 11. spera: see note to No. IX, St. 1, 1. 7. The term is
obviously applied here to the lady, not to the sun.
I. 12. stella: the use of siella for 'star' in the abstract,
where we should say ' stars ', may be paralleled from the can-
zone Donna pietosa, V. N. § 23, St. 4, 1. 8.
Stanza 3, 1. 3. ancor vivessi : ' although I was alive'. The
omission of che is of course common enough.
II. 4-12. Cf. the opinion expressed by Fra Guittone in No.
XLIII, St. 3.
1. 12. di scarso largo : cf. di larga parca, Par. viii. 82.
Stanza 5, 1, 6. me should probably be nC k.
I. 9. costumanza : ' good-breeding ' ; the passive sense is
rare, but it turns up in the negative scostumato : ' ill-bred '.
Comiato, 1. 2. ' In respect to that which is to be said.'
II. 4-6. ' It does- not seem to me knowledge if, wishing to
speak of her whole form, I succeeded in praising one member
only.'
LIX.
Pucciandone Martelli was a contemporary of Fra Guittone,
one of whose letters is addressed to him. He is mentioned by
Trissino in the Poetica, and by Redi. The present piece was
printed by Villarosa and Valeriani, who probably took it from
Redi's (now the Laurentian) MS. From its style and diction this
piece would appear to belong to a date not very long after 1250.
It is in form a ballata with a prelude of two lines, and five
stanzas of eight lines, each of eleven syllables. Rime-scheme :
prelude : AaB ; stanzas : ABABABCcD. Each member, includ-
ing the prelude, ends with the same rime, -ente, which, curiously
enough, is that of the equivalent lines in No. LV.
Stanza i, 1. i. mi membra : ' comes to my mind ' ; of
a similar use of membrare we have already had instances. Here
the construction is somewhat unusual, belta being at once the
subject of membra and the object of vedere.
1. 3. fa porto : ' harbours '.
Stanza 2, 1. 7. parliedi : Val. parlieri, but this does not
agree with the internal rime, e di, in the next line. The d for r
R 2
244 NOTES
may be paralleled by chiedo for chiero. The evil speakers as
obstacles to true love have been noticed before. See note to
No. XXXIX, St. 6, 1. 6.
Stanza 4, 1. 7. abandono : Val. abondanza, which again
misses the internal rime ; the emendation is pretty obvious.
The meaning seems to be 'the tongue which would speak
should be as unfettered as I am in loyalty towards you '.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. mi laudo d' amor : for this reflexive use of
laudare cf. Inf. ii. 74, ' di te mi loderb '.
1. 2. intendimento : ' aim ' ; the second intendimento in
1. 4 meaning probably ' understanding '.
LX.
Guido, the son of Guinizello de' Principi, of Bologna, owes his
great reputation chiefly to the estimate formed of him by
Dante, who frequently refers to him in terms of unstinted
eulogy. Meeting him in Purgatory (xxvi. 92 sqq.), he speaks
of him as his father, and the father of others ' who had ever
used rimes of love \ The term padre, it is interesting to note,
had been applied by Guido himself in one of his early sonnets
to Fra Guittone. In V. E. I. ix he is mentioned with various
1 doctores ', such as Giraut de Bornelh, Thierry, King of
Navarre, and others, who have sung of love ; in I. xv he is
1 maximus Guido Guinizelli ' ; and in II. v he again comes in
with the other ' doctores ', and reference is made to his famous
ode Al cor gientil. No very great body of his work has sur-
vived ; only three of his canzoni are given in V.R.V. Valeriani
prints these, with six others, some perhaps of doubtful authen-
ticity. The Principi were Ghibeline in politics, and Guido him-
self was one of the victims of the expulsion of his party from
Bologna in 1274, when he is said to have gone to Verona. The
dates of his birth and death are quite uncertain ; the former was
probably somewhere about 1230, while of the latter we can only
say with certainty that it must have taken place before 1300.
In 1270 he is known to have been Podesta of Castelfranco,
in the Trevisan, in the territory of Verona.
The present poem is a string of the early commonplaces.
NOTES 245
The stanzas are of twelve lines, all seven syllables. Rime-
scheme : ABCABC DEEDDE. In Stanza 5, C and D are
identical, and the rime-scheme of the last six lines is CAACCA.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. in altura : as we speak of ' on the high
seas '.
Stanza 3, 11. 1-3. Cf. Inf. ix. 67, 68.
11. 6, 7. Vat. MS. arde, and chetrova, making both lines
a syllable short.
I. 7. iloco : ' in the place '. Lat. in loco.
1. 9. s' acolglie : ' meet together '. The use of a singular
verb with a plural subject, though always rare, is more usual
when the verb precedes. Wiese quotes an instance from the
Notary, A.R.V. iii. 46.
I. II. stiza : stizzare, ' to stir up ', from stizzo, tizzo {Inf. xiii.
40) ; from Lat. titio, ' a fire-brand ' ; so Fr. attiser. — um poco :
im would probably be better.
Stanza 4, 1. 12. 'Painting the air'; as futile an operation
as ' ploughing the sand '.
Stanza 5, 1. 8. solo must be read as sol.
LXI.
This appears to be the poem of which the opening words are
quoted in V. E. I. xv as Madonna, il fermo core. The error
(if it is one) is probably not Dante's, but that of the scribe of one
of the few MSS. which have come down to us, whose error was
followed by others. From its length and regular structure of
long stanzas with comiato, it would seem to belong to a later
period of the poet's life than the last, though it is far from
having reached the stil nnovo. It bears, on the other hand,
some affinity to the manner of Fra Guittone, of whom, in
his earlier days, Guido was an admirer. The stanzas are
of twelve lines, 3, 6, 8, io being short. Rime-scheme :
ABCABC DDEEFF. Comiato : AABBCC.
Stanza 1, 1. 1. The opening words are practically identical
with those of No. XXXVIII, which may have misled the scribe
of the Vat. MS., so that fermo core may possibly be the true
reading.
246 NOTES
Stanza 2, 1. 8. a grave meso : ' placed in a difficulty '.
1. 9. degia must be scanned as one syllable.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. amore amaro : cf. No. XLVIII, St. 1, 1. 8.
1. 12. istea sevale : so the MS., but it is difficult to get any
sense out of the words, the meaning of which can only be ' let
him stand if he is worthy '.
Stanza 4, 11. 4, 5. The words are not unlike those of Purg.
xvi. 89, 90, though the sense is a little different.
1. 7. e vanne : MS. evene, but the plural is needed, and
vanne, ' go their way,' gives a better sense. This notion of all
his vertuti leaving him and passing to the lady to join their kin
is thoroughly Dantesque.
1. II. assai should obviously be saggi or sain.
1. 12. parte : again almost in the political sense, like the
Psalmist's ' congregation of the wicked '.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. See No. XXI, St. 5, 11. 1-8.
Stanza 6, 1. 7. sagio : ' test ' or ' proof ; ' assay '.
Stanza 7, 1. 2. dismisura : ' superabundance ' ; used by
Dante in the sense of lack of moderation, Inf. xvi. 74 and
Purg. xxii. 35.
1. 3. forfalsitate : that which is outside falsehood.
1. 4. 'n cio che fatico : ' all the trouble I take '.
1. 5. possa drittura seems to mean 'has the power of or
' is capable of ' justice, but the use of potere in this qtiasi-
transitive sense seems to be very unusual.
1. 11. tello : tenelo.
1. 12. See note to No. XVIII, St. 2, 1. 1. 'Keep him ena-
moured, that you may refine him, then let him give up loving,
and die.'
Comiato, 1. 5. inarato : for inarrato, ' given earnest of,' from
arra; hence 'to make a beginning', as in Petr., Son. 187.
The word occurs as late as Ariosto, e.g. O. F. xvii. 64.
LXII.
The following poem is cited by Dante {V. E. ii. 6) as a speci-
men of ' sapidus et venustus gradus constructionis ' ; the highest
NOTES 247
degree of composition, possessing both relish and elegance. The
latter merit it certainly has, though, so far as the matter goes, it
does not show much advance on the conventional school, with
its feudal phraseology and familiar turns of phrase. It is not in
the Vat. MS., but is printed by Fiachi, Val., and Nan. Monaci
has edited it from the Chigian MS. The stanzas are of ten lines,
5, 7, 9 being of seven syllables. Rime-scheme : ABABCDCEDE,
and the first line of the stanza contains in two cases an echo of
the last line of the preceding.
Stanza I, 1. 3. fen resmire : literally ' gazing back ' ; the
word seems to have soon dropped out of use, its place being
taken by risguardo. Mon. fe rensmire, but a plural verb is
clearly needed. It will be noted that there is no direct predicate
to occhi.
1. 5. en : sono, as frequently ; plural formed directly from the
singular. So Purg. xvi. 121.
1. 8. baronia seems here to mean the body of vassals dwelling
in the barony.
1. 9. usar forza : ' go to war '.
Stanza 2, 1. 2. di neente : ' in no measure '. — The idea in
these lines is in some ways parallel to that in V. N. xi, though
the imagery is somewhat different. In that case the ' spirits ' of
sight are driven out by Love, who takes their place ; here the
eyes offer no resistance to the lady's glance, which pierces
straight through to the heart.
I. 8. niente : note that the B rime is continued into the
second division of the stanza with a repetition of niente ; sug-
gesting that a final revision had not been given to the poem.
II. 9, 10. Cf. 11. 5-8 of the sonnet Tanto gentile, V. N. xxvi.
Only there the lady is not disdegnosa but d' humilta vestuta ;
an instance of the way in which Dante had improved upon the
feminine ideal of his predecessors.
Stanza 3, 11. 3, 4. Cf. Sir Henry Wotton, 'You meaner
beauties of the night \
1. 5. Mon. Ck' ellei Zno.
Stanza 4, 1. 5. s' apariscie should obviously be si spariscie,
1 night flies before her '.
1. 7. solarisce : the other texts all have sclarisce, and I regret
248 NOTES
that I cannot now produce my authority for the reading I have
adopted ; it may indeed be due to an error of the press.
1. 10. pareggia : 'matches'.
Stanza 5, 1. 2. este : for I. This quasi- Latin form has oc-
curred more than once already, e. g. in Stanza 1 of No. XL, where
it happens to be also coupled with the pronoun este. It is used
by Dante in Par. xxiv. 141, where the MSS. vary between sunt
et este and sono et este, the great preponderance of MS. authority
being for sono, which I am now inclined to think is more likely
to be the right reading. At all events it shows that este as
a recognized Italian form was familiar to the early scribes.
1. 4. 'ste : here the plural feminine of esto.
LXIII.
This poem, again, is quite in the early style, opening with the
well-worn discussion as to the nature of love, and ending with
the equally well-worn appeal to the lady to lay aside her pride
and show him pity, with allusions to ill-requited service. The
stanzas are of eleven lines, 2, 5, 7, 8, 9 being of seven syllables.
Rime-scheme: ABCABCCDDEeF. F recurs at the end of
each stanza.
Stanza i, 1. 3. movimento : cf. the first line of No. I.
1. 8. volendo : note again the use of the gerund for the
infinitive; the use may be exactly paralleled in colloquial
English, ' It is a great mistake, wishing to do so and so'.
Stanza 2, 1.5. abbenda: 'binds', 'wraps'; Prov. bendar
in the same sense, from German binde, our ' band '. Voc. Cruse,
gives two examples, both in the sense of surgical binding, but in
the present passage the lines following seem to suggest that it
may have had some horticultural signification, though I can find
nothing to confirm this. Florio : ' to skarfe ', * to swathe '.
1. 9. isdutto seems here to mean 'misled'.
Stanza 3, 1. 6. tortura: this word is used by Dante in
Purg. xxv. 109, where there has been some debate as to its
meaning, one modern commentator asserting that it is not
found in early Italian in the sense of ' torture '. There cannot
NOTES 249
be much doubt that that is the meaning here, though it might
possibly be contended that it signifies only ' wrong'.
1. 7. calura : 'hot desire'.
1. 8. meritato : ' rewarded '.
Stanza 4, 1. 7. avvene : ' it happens '.
1. 10. allotta : for allora; used several times by Dante,
who also has, in Inf. xxi. 112, otta for ora. The words are
etymologically quite unconnected, otta being apparently from
a Teutonic root.
1. 11. merta ogni scoglio : apparently 'repays every
obstacle ' ; scoglio in its usual sense of ' a rock in the sea '.
LXIV.
This noble ode, so far superior to everything else of Guinizelli's
that has remained to us that it is difficult to recognize it as the
work of the same person who has left us the pleasing trivialities
which precede it, is doubtless his main title to fame. It must
have been this that earned for him the filial regard, as it were,
of Dante, and it is easy to see the great influence it had upon
Dante's own early poetry. It is only necessary to refer, for
examples of his influence with him, to the sonnet of V. N. xx,
'Amor e '1 cor gentil sono una cosa,' and the discussion of
gentilezza in Conv. iv and the accompanying canzone. The
whole poem, indeed, is one which Dante need not have been
ashamed to own. So little of the author's work remains to us
that we cannot say whether the poem marks a real revolution in
his poetic method, or is merely a solitary inspiration, such as
worse poets than Guido sometimes enjoyed. But, such as it is,
it remains, both for thought and style, one of the masterpieces
of Italian lyric poetry. It is preserved in several manuscripts
besides the Vatican, and was printed, probably for the first time,
in the Giunta edition of 1527.
The poem consists of six stanzas of ten lines each, lines 5, 7, 9
being short. Rime-scheme : ABABCDCEDE.
Stanza 1, 1. 1. ripara : Vat. MS. rimpaira ; Mon., following
Barberini MS., refiadria, sc. ripatria, ' seeks its home,' a beautiful
250 NOTES
reading which one would like to retain, but ripara has the weight
of authority. Bembo, Prose, i, says that the word is Provencal,
and the reading of the Vat. MS. comes very near to the Prov.
repairar (Fr. repaire, our ' repair '), which, according to Diez,
however, is a different word and comes from the Latin repatriare ;
whileparar and its compounds are from LaX.parare, 'to prepare,'
1 make ready,' from which the sense of ' defence ' arose. Castel-
vetro takes Bembo to task for supposing that riparare can stand
for albergare simply, and says that it always involves the meaning
of 'defence '. It is very probable that the two words have become
confused to some extent in meaning, and we may still, if we like,
believe that the idea in the poet's mind was rather ' seeks its
home ' than ' has its abode ' or • place of defence '. If indeed he
had intended the latter, would he not have used nel rather
than al ?
1. 7. No variant to this line appears to exist, yet it is hardly
possible to accept it exactly as it stands, as sole appears to be
used in an identical sense with that of 1. 5 ; nor, we may imagine,
would the poet have so definitely contradicted the received order
of creation, in which light certainly did exist before the sun.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. Here again, as in Stanzas 3 and 5, we have
the last word of the preceding stanza echoed ; that this is missing
in the other two cases seems to show that either the poem had
not its author's final revision, or that the version which we have
does not show this. — aprende : the regular word for ' catching ',
as of fire. Cf. Inf. v. 100, an obvious echo of this line.
1. 3. stella must mean here ' the heavenly spheres ' gene-
rally, by the movements of which human affairs are directed ;
but the idea that, in order that their effects might be manifested,
the co-operation of the sun was needed, seems to be peculiar to
the poet. The idea is that the sun first purifies, and then the
star imparts its virtue.
1. 6. ell': sc. cosa.
Stanza 3, 1. 2. doppiero : ' the wick of a candle ', from Lat.
duplarius, because formed of two twisted strands.
1. 3. The line as it stands is too long by a syllable ; we should
doubtless read clar, or with Mon. chiar.
1. 4. fero : untamed.
NOTES 251
1. 6. fa : the use of fare as a substitute for a preceding verb
is common enough in Italian, just as ' do ' in English. Wiese,
Part iii, § 21, gives other instances.
1. 8. prende rivera : ' comes to shore '.
1. 10. damas: ' adamant ', that is ' diamond,' as in Par. ii. 33.
The notion that the diamond was a product of iron mines was
not uncommon.
Stanza 4, 1. 3. Cf. the canzone to Conv. iv, St. 2, 1. 10. —
torno : cf. our use of ' I turn out '.
I. 6. fuor di coragio : ' apart from the heart ' ; almost equi-
valent to ' courage ', but in a wider meaning.
Stanza 5, 1. 1. intelligenzia del cielo : here we are getting
very much on Dante's ground, though we have not yet got to the
distribution of the ' intelligences ' among the different heavens.
Cf. Par. xxviii. 78 ; and, with this and the following line, Par.
ix. 62.
1. 3. oltre cielo : here again we have the same word in the
same meaning repeated in rime ; presumably to avoid this,
Nan. reads oltra 7 velo, which somewhat weakens the sense.
I. 4. tole : for tolle or toglie, * takes its obedience ' ; togliere
generally has the meaning of 'to take away', but its use for
4 take ' simply is not unusual : e. g. Par. xv. 98. It seems,
however, to have puzzled the editors, who have suggested such
alterations as cole and vole.
II. 5-10. This somewhat audacious comparison between the
attributes of the lady and of the Deity himself is, as will be
seen, challenged and excused in the next stanza.
1. 10. disaprende : ' fails to take fire '.
Stanza 6, 1. 1. Donna : this word clearly refers to the lady,
whoever she may have been, to whom the poem is addressed,
and forms no part of the words put into God's mouth, as has
been sometimes understood, the use of the feminine address
being justified by the feminine of alma. But this notion appears
intolerably grotesque, and the mi dira cuts us off so completely
from alma in 1. 2 as to make it inconceivable that the two can
have any connexion.
252 NOTES
LXV.
Of Onesto of Bologna very little is known. Nannucci tells us
that his name occurs in various local documents, the latest being
dated September 24, 1301. Nor has much of his poetry survived
(the Vat. MS., for example, contains nothing of his), which is
all the more curious as he was evidently reckoned one of the
most distinguished of the Bologna poets. Dante mentions him
in V. E. I. xv, with Guinizelli and others, as writing in a language
which was not the Bolognese dialect, and quotes a line from
a poem of his which appears to be lost. Lorenzo de' Medici,
as will have been seen in the Preface, coupled him with the
' Sicilians ', and thought that his work would have been all the
better for a little more polish. Bembo, again, names him among
the illustrious poets of the first age. He had a sonnet-corre-
spondence with Cino of Pistoia. Valeriani gives a few of his
pieces, but with no indication as to the source whence he took
them. I have taken the following from his collection. It is
still very much on the old lines, and shows no trace of the stil
nuovo, though on the whole the structure is somewhat more
compact, and the diction simpler than that of the Sicilians.
The stanzas are of ten lines, 6 and 8 being of seven syllables ;
the first line of each stanza more or less repeats the last of the
preceding. Rime-scheme: ABBACCDDEE.
Stanza i, 1. i. taupino : see note to No. XXXIII, St. 2, 1. 1.
1. 6. poia : poggia ; from Lat. podium, * a hill,' whence the
original meaning ' to climb ' ; thence ' to prop up ' or ' to lean
against', as in Inf. xx. 25, xxix. 73. Fr. appuyer.
1. 10. ad uopo meo : ' for my needs '.
Stanza 2, 1. 3. a mia rincontra : ■ to my own hindrance '.
1. 9. The phraseology somewhat reminds one of Romans vii. 23,
while the comparison of the lover's condition to death, which
occurs in this poem, especially II. 5-7 of the next stanza, and is
a commonplace throughout, may possibly have been suggested
by the following verse. Dante was not the only poet of that
age who knew his Bible.
Stanza 3, 1. 6. gli must refer to anima ; though an inter-
change of genders in the pronoun is occasionally found, it might
be better to read, as suggested, /'.
NOTES 253
Stanza 5, 11. 2 sqq. The appeal to other ladies to plead the
lover's cause is a common feature, and an echo of it may
perhaps be found in Purg. xxx. 96.
1. 10. gliel refers to the lady. It must be noted that this
compound is indeclinable and serves equally for both genders.
LXVI.
This poem is printed in the collection of 1 527. It is a ballatat
and, in spite of its somewhat doleful theme and language, is
written in a lively, tripping, anapaestic metre. It has the usual
prelude, of three lines, and stanzas of seven lines. Rime-scheme :
prelude : AaBbC ; stanzas : AaBBAaCcDdE. The final lines
of the prelude and stanzas rime together, after the usual ballata
fashion.
Stanza 1, 1. 2. Giunta : non sono oso . . . ripensare.
1. 5. Giunta: stato gravoso. I have transposed the words,
at the cost of a slight halt in the line, so as to get the internal
rime into its proper place.
Stanza 2, 1. 7. The meaning is not very clear, for how could
' pity ' do wrong to ' favour ' or ' requital ', which is the general
meaning of tnerzl ? Should we not read a pietanza merzl ?
' Favour did wrong to pity,' i. e. ' was not granted as pity
demanded '.
Stanza 3, 1. 4. casso : ' breast ', as in Purg. xxiv. 72,
literally ' chest ', from Lat. capsus, and so exactly equivalent to
our English word.
Stanza 4, 1. 1. si sciovra : ' ceases to work ', Lat. exoperari.
1. 2. meve : the use of this archaic form, like that of the
futures in -aggio above, seems to indicate an early date for this
poem.
LXVI I.
With Guido, son of Cavalcante Cavalcanti, we pass into the
domain of authentic history. His life was nearly or quite
co-extensive with the latter half of the thirteenth century, during
the later years of which he took a prominent and, for himself,
254 NOTES
disastrous part in Florentine politics. He is of course best
known to fame as Dante's closest friend, though he was senior
of the two by some ten or fifteen years. The friendship began,
as Dante himself recounts in V. N. § 3, by Dante's selection of
him as one of the poets to whom the youthful sonnet ' A ciascun'
alma presa, e gentil core ' was sent for criticism. Guido's reply,
beginning ' Vedesti al mio parere ogni valore ', is preserved.
' This,' says Dante, ' was about the beginning of our friendship '.
Dante was then about eighteen years old. The Cavalcanti were
a Guelf family, and at the short-lived truce which succeeded
the battle of Montaperti, when efforts were made to reconcile
Guelfs and Ghibelines by means of matrimonial arrange-
ments, Guido was betrothed to the daughter of Farinata degli
Uberti. The marriage duly took place, and children were born
of it. Like Dante himself, however, and most other poets of
the time, Guido looked elsewhere for his poetical inspiration.
In V. N. § xxiv Dante speaks of a lady who was ' molto donna
di questo mio primo amico ', and was known as Primavera, her
real name being Giovanna. She is also referred to in the sonnet
' Guido, vorrei ', where her name is coupled with that of • Monna
Bice ', pretty clear evidence that Guido's attachment to her was
as innocent as that of Dante to Beatrice. Towards the end of
his life, when on an abortive pilgrimage to Compostella, which
got no further than Nimes, he addressed poems to other ladies,
real or imaginary. In June, 1300, when the quarrel between
Black and White Guelfs had become acute, and civil war seemed
imminent, the Priors, among whom was Dante, adopted the
step of banishing the leaders of both factions ; Guido with other
Whites was sent to Sarzana. This place proved so unhealthy
that they were soon allowed to return. But Guido was already
stricken for death, and expired in the following August. Villani,
in recording this, speaks of him as ' filosofo, virtudioso uomo in
piii cose, se non ch' era troppo tennero e stizzoso ' (' touchy and
prone to wrath ') ; and this seems to be the general verdict of
his contemporaries. Dante's reference to him, Inf. x. 63, as
one who despised Virgil, and the dramatic scene which follows,
will be in every one's memory. As a poet, Dante held him in
high esteem. He is mentioned in V. E.'u 13 among the Tuscans
NOTES 255
who avoided the turpiloquium of their native dialect, and he is
doubtless also the ' uno Guido ' who has taken away from
' Paltro ' (Guinizelli) ' the glory of our language ' (Purg. xi. 97) ;
certainly he, rather than Guinizelli, was the one to introduce the
philosophical theory of love. (See on this subject Mr. J. B.
Fletcher's essay in No. 22 of the Harvard Dante Society's
Transactions, * The Philosophy of Love of Guido Cavalcanti '.)
The present ode contains the sum of his theory on the subject.
The nature of love is still the theme, but it is handled in
a different way from that of the earlier poets. Scholastic terms
abound, and the whole thing has a somewhat pedantic flavour.
It is not in the Vat. MS., perhaps because it was not written
when that collection was made, but it is in the Barberini and
the Chigi ; Monaci has printed it from the latter. It is also
in the Giunta selection of 1527. It is in the almost regulation
form of five stanzas with a comiato. The stanzas are of fourteen
lines, the comiato of five, every line being, as Dante has noted
in V. E. ii. 12, hendecasyllabic. The rime-scheme is somewhat
complicated by many internal rimes, a reference to which will
be found in V. E. ii. 12 : zAbbCcDzAbbCcDEeFfGGEeFfGG.
Comiato: ABbAaCC.
Stanza 1, 1. 2. ' The thing that befalls and is often untame-
able.'
1. 10 seems to be an allusion to the opening lines of No. LXIV.
Stanza 2, 1. 1. Cf. the first words of V. N., which may have
been suggested by these, though they are differently employed.
I.3. diafan : 'transparency'.
1. 4. Cf. Inf. xxiv. 145 and Purg. ii. 14 for the affinity of
Mars with mists.
1. 8. possibile intelletto may be roughly defined as ' the
universal intellect ', that which informs the acting intellect of
the individual. See Purg. xxv. 65. It is conceivable that Guido,
who had the reputation of a free-thinker, may use the term to
avoid ' divino intelletto'.
1. 9. suggetto : ' that which underlies ', almost equivalent to
' material '.
1. 10. pesanza: this is the reading of the Chig. MS. Giunta
has flosanza, which is perhaps preferable ; 'it cannot rest there
256 NOTES
because it does not come down from the nature of abstract
quality, it beams with perpetual desire, but has no delight.'
Stanza 3, 1. 2. Giunta : Perche perfezion si, which upsets
the internal rime.
1. 4. fuor di salute seems to mean, ' when it is necessary to
destroy as well as to save '.
1. 5. ' And the intention is as good a reason as the act.' This
is very much the teaching of Aquinas.
1. 6. in cui e vizio amico : a condensed way of saying ' in
him to whom ', &c.
Stanza 4, 1. 2. Cf. Purg. xvii. 98 and the following exposi-
tion of the manner in which love may be the source of sin.
1. 5. stoma : usually ' to turn away ', ' to turn back ', but
here it seems to mean to • alter ' or ' change'.
I. 11. Cf. the sonnet ' Negli occhi porta', V. N. § xxi,
especially 11. 13, 14; but of course the notion is common to all
love-poetry.
II. 12-14. ' Let not either great or little wisdom make any
effort to draw love to himself, nor go about to find pleasure
from it.'
Stanza 5, 1. 1. tragge complessione : cf. di complession
potenziate, Par. vii. 140. The complession is the mingling of
qualities which goes to make up all animate and inanimate
things, and from which they take, as one may say, their
character. The exact construction of this line is not easy to
see ; probably sguardo is the subject of tragge : ' a look draws
forth love from one of like disposition '.
1. 3. Chig. MS. reads si giunto, as does the Giunta. I have
followed Nannucci's reading, sorgiunto, ' overtaken,' as giving
a more lively image.
1. 5. Cf. Ovid's well-known res est solliciti plena timoris amor.
1. 8. Giunta : compriso. This line as it stands seems unin-
telligible, unless we can take om priso as meaning ' when the
man is taken ' j or might we read c' a om ? ' Whiteness ' (or
' a blank ') ' falls over such objects ', i. e. of love.
1. 1 1. Mon. : esser e, but the words seem to mean • separated
from existence ', ' that which emanates from the beloved object
is colourless and apart from actual being '.
NOTES 257
1. 12. mezzo oscuro : ' a dark medium '. The same phrase
occurs as a varia lectio in some MSS. and edd. of Purg. i. 15.
1. 13. Mon. : dice om degno ; Giunta : dice degno, but it is
rather the author's remark than that of a supposed ' man \
LXVIII.
This little piece is referred to by Dante in V. E. ii. 6 as an
example of the most excellent construction (see introduction to
No. LXII). Beyond graceful expression there is nothing particu
larly noticeable about it. In the Giunta edition it is classed among
the ballate, though it does not seem to be in the strict ballata
form, consisting as it does of two stanzas each of four hendeca-
syllabic lines, and one of seven lines, 3 and 5 being short. The
rime-scheme of the first two stanzas is ABBC ABBC ; for the
third: ABBCCDD.
Stanza 2, 1. 2. It might be better to read a t.g. a v. p. ; as
the line stands we should expect di vita.
LXIX.
Cino de' Sinibuidi of Pistoia is one of the most interesting
figures in Italian literary history. Born five years after Dante, who
always refers to himself in V. E. as ' Cino's friend ', he also was
one of those to whom the early sonnet ' A ciascun' alma presa '
was sent, and who replied to it ; though, if the usually received
date of his birth be correct, he must have been very young at
the time. He lived till 1336, and interchanged verse with the
youthful Petrarch, who, when Cino died, was a man of thirty-
two. This selection being confined to poems before 1300, none
of his later work has been included. Of the three poems which
are given, one is known to have been earlier than that date, and
the style of the other two seems to show that they were youthful
productions. He was eminent both as poet and lawyer. A con-
siderable quantity of his verse remains to us, though a good
deal of it is of no extraordinary merit. However, he was an
elegant versifier, and may to some extent be regarded as the
predecessor of Petrarch himself, and so of all the long series
253 NOTES
of Italian lyric poets, for two hundred years and more, to whom
finish of style and elaborate conceits rather than any beauty or
originality of thought were the important elements of poetry.
Cino, however, like Petrarch, could occasionally touch a nobler
chord, as the following ode, addressed to Dante after the death
of Beatrice, is sufficient to show. It is another of those cited by
Dante in V. E. ii. 6 to illustrate the most excellent style ; in
spite of which Allacci assigns it to Guido Guinizelli. It
consists of five stanzas of fourteen lines (lines 9 and 1 1 being of
seven syllables), with a comiato of six lines. Rime-scheme :
ABCABCCDDEECFF ; comiato, ABBACC.
Stanza i, 1. i. ch' io non aggio: All. che del maggio,
a fair specimen of his editing.
1. 4. tempo may possibly be justified by treating per tetttpo
in 1. 1 as an adverb.
1. 7. Cf. canzone in V. N. xxxii, St. 2, 1. 1.
1. 8. Cf. V. N. ii. : ' la quale fu chiamata da molti Beatrice,
i quali non sapeano che si chiamare.'
1. 13. a posta : almost equivalent to Fr. a propos.
Stanza 2, 1. 6. corrotto : 'grief. Originally it was the
participle, corrotto di do/ore, ' broken up with grief. It is diffi-
cult not to connect the word with Prov. corrotz and Fr. courroux,
though in these the meaning of ' anger ' is more prominent.
Diez, however, would derive both these, as well as the It. cor-
ruccio, from cholera.
I. 8. del suo maggiore seems to mean here ' in its greatest
measure '.
II. 10-12. An obvious reference to the canzone ' Donne
ch' avete', V. N. § 19, showing that so much at least of the
Vita Nuova had been written before this time.
Stanza 3, 1. 1. che pianto adopra : * of what help is weep-
ing
?»
Stanza 4, 11. 1-4. Cf. Petrarch, Sonnets, Part II, 75 :
Ond* io voglie e pensier tutti al ciel ergo,
Perche io 1' odo pregar pur ch' i' m' affretti.
The entire sonnet, indeed, seems to be based on reminiscences
of this poem.
NOTES 259
Stanza 5. The opening lines of this stanza have a certain
resemblance, more in sentiment than in the actual phraseology,
to those in Lycidas beginning ' So Lycidas sunk low, but
mounted high'. It is, however, hardly close enough to allow
us to infer any suggestion.
11. 11, 12. Cf. again the opening lines of Petrarch's- sonnet
quoted above.
Comiato, 1. 5. Unless Dio is, contrary to the usual rule, to
be taken as two syllables, this line is short, and I have suggested
lo re~ to complete it.
LXX.
This poem is cited by Dante, V. E. II. ii, in the famous passage
where he lays down that the highest subjects for poetry are love,
warlike heroism, and morals. It is obviously a poem of the
author's youth, and little more than an exercise in the early
style, as shown by the predominance of short lines, and the use
of words like cotiquide, which by the end of the century were
becoming obsolete. With the rest of Cino's work, it is lacking
from the Vat. MS., nor is it in any of the printed collections
with which I am acquainted, save that of Villarosa, from whom
I have taken it ; unless it be in Carducci's of 1862, but as that
work has no index it is hard to say what is in it without reading
it through. The stanzas are of fourteen lines, 3, 6, 7, 10, II, 14
being long. Rime-scheme: ABCCBADEEDEDDE.
Stanza i, 1. 5. men: me ne.
1. 6. io should almost certainly be ei, sc. aviore: 'I stole
love from your eyes so secretly that you did not know when he
went out.'
Stanza 2, 1. 9. conquide : see note to No. XV, St. 3, 1. 2.
1. 10. tragger . . . guai : cf. Inf. v. 48. — guai: the initial g
of guai points to its coming rather from the Gothic wax than
from the Latin vae, though of course the two words are closely
akin ; these, and the German weh, our ' woe ', all belong to the
same family.
1. 14. giudizio : carrying on the idea of rio, 'the criminal,'
in 1. 10.
S 2
260 NOTES
Stanza 3, 1. 1. non vi caglia: 'take no heed of, as in
Purg. viii. 12. From Lat. calere, literally ' to grow warm '. O.Fr.
chaloir, whence nonchalant.
11. 1 2, 1 3. Villarosa prints signor che ferdonanza, thus making
the stanza a line short. The last four lines of course contain the
old idea that the lord who pardons is better than he who
punishes.
LXXI.
This ode is quoted by Dante in the same passage as Al cor
gentil and others, V. E. ii. 5, to show that the opening of a
canzone with a line of eleven syllables is the practice of the
highest ' doctores '. The stanzas are three in number, of seven-
teen lines apiece, the shorter lines being 3, 7, 15, 16, the third
and seventh being of 5 syllables only, an arrangement which
would point to its being somewhat later than the preceding>
though the frequency of internal rimes, as well as the intricacy
of the language, shows it to belong still to the earlier school.
Rime-scheme : AaBCcDAaBCcDEeF(e)FFEeFEFF. (In the
last stanza the internal rime of 1. 11 is wanting.)
Stanza i, 1. 10. Vil., probably not noticing the internal rime,
reads vado cos\ d.
Stanza 2, 11. 5, 6. che and chi should probably be trans-
posed : ' whoso sees a thing so noble treats it as baseness to
have dealt me that blow '.
1. 9. The subject to e must be pietanza.
1. 14. afilata : 'sharpened'.
Stanza 3,1. 12. vertfr : ' power ', ' efficiency '.
1. 13. 'The cause is not my unworthiness.'
1. 17. di ragion : ' by good right '.
INDEX OF FIRST LINES
Ahime, lasso taupino .
Ai dolze e gaia terra Fiorentina
Ai lasso, or & stagion
Al cor gentil
AI cor m' e nato .
Amor ben veio .
Amor, che lungiamente
Amor, da cui move
Amore, in cui disio
Amore, perche m' ai
Amorosa donna fina
Amor tanto altamente
Ancor che l'aigua
Avegna ch' io non aggio
Ben m' e venuta prima
Ben mi credeva .
. Ben mi degio alegrare
Biasmomi dell' amore
Come lo giorno .
Comune perta
Con gran disio .
Credea essere, lasso
D' amoroso paeso
Degno son io ch' i' mora
Di lungia parte aduciemi
Dispietata morte e fera
Dolcie coninciamento .
Donna, 1' amor mi sforza
Donna, lo fino amore .
Donna mi prega, perche voglio d
Donna, audite como .
D' un' amcrosa voglia .
Fin amor mi comforta
Gia lungiamente, amore
Giammai non mi conforto
Gioia ne ben non e
PAGE
130
105
88
128
32
13
35
1
3
59
23
85
37
136
10
116
65
5°
47
98
126
54
33
138
103
66
7
120
69
133
15
I02
114
53
20
"3
262
INDEX OF FIRST LINES
Ciioiosamente canto
Gravosa dimoranza
In gioi' mi tengo
Ispendiente Stella
La mia vita e si forte
La partenza che fo dolorosa
Lo gran valor e lo pregio
Madonna, dir vi voglio
Madonna, il fino amore
Maravigliosamente
Morte, perche
Non gia per gioia
Non spero che gia mai
Oi lassa namorata
Oi lasso ! nom pensai
Per fino amore vo si
Per lo marito c' 6 rio
Poiche di doglia .
Poi non mi val merce
Ouando appar 1' aulente fiore
Ouando la primavera .
Rosa fresca aulentissima
Sei anni 6 travagliato .
Si come il pescio
Tal e la fiamma e lo foco
Tanto sovente dett5 agio
Tengnol di folle impresa
Tutto il dolor
Tutto lo mondo vive '.
Tuttor agg' io
Tuttor la dolze speranza
Tuttor s' eo veglio
Umile core e fino e amoroso
Una fermana iscoppai da Cascioli
Vergongno, lasso
ERRATA
P. 19, 1. 14 for tiranare read tii-anire.
P. 22, 1. 9 for [pitt] e read fiiu (<?).
P. 28, No. XVI, 1. 6 for e read <?.
P. 29, 1. 12 for <? (tut id) read ^ [/»] te//d.
P. 31, 1. 3 for che mi read ^^ lo mi.
P. 37. At end of No. XX insert (V.R.V., Giunta, Mon.).
P. 39, 1. 25 for la vostra read lo vostro.
P. 42, 1. 2 for che read ch' e.
P. 49, 1. 3 for amore read amort.
P. 55, 1. 4 for mira read mira 'n.
P. 87, 1. 5 for approvo read approvb.
P. 88, 1. 16 for <V/fc'> ^/ read a*' //.
P. 90, 1. 8 for a combattuto read a combaituto.
Note ' for m. read ;«zV#.
P. 91, last line, for viaciere read giacere.
P. 100, 1. 8 for sol read d5* «w j*?/.
P. 102, at end of No. XLIX insert (V.R.V.).
P. 121, 1. 3 insert semicolon at end.
P. 127, 1. 13 insert full stop at end.
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